Ultrasonic picture processing method and ultrasonic picture processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An ultrasonic picture processing method comprising the steps of extracting contour information of a target from respective frame pictures of an ultrasonic moving image, dividing the extracted contour information into a plurality of regions at a preset interval, comparing the divided contour information parts with one another and making a predetermined determination of the ultrasonic moving pictures based on the comparison results.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic picture processing methodand an ultrasonic picture processing apparatus for determining andcollecting pictures which are important to the diagnosis of a diseaseand which are not affected by the movement of a subject's body and bythe movement of inspector's hands, from ultrasonic pictures obtained byan ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, and to an ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus.

The present invention also relates to an picture processing apparatusfor extracting the contour of a target and displaying a picture capableof determining whether or not the extracted picture is fitted to thetarget.

In recent years, as people's eating habits are improving, the number ofpeople suffering from diseases such as obesity and hypertension isincreasing in Japan. Since the mortality rate of cardiac diseasesresulting from these diseases is a second highest next to cancer, theyare becoming more and more serious problems. In the diagnosis of acardiac disease, an electrocardiogram is used as a primary diagnosismethod. For further detailed picture-using diagnosis, diagnosis using anultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is widely applied due to convenience andlow cost (compared to other diagnosis apparatuses such as X-ray CT, MRIand PET).

When diagnosing of a cardiac disease using the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus, real-time moving pictures obtained by the apparatus are usedin most cases. A doctor observes the movement of the cardiac wall of apatient for one piece of diagnostic information and diagnoses whetherthe patient's heart is abnormal. In case of a cardiac disease such ascardiac infarction and stenocardia, the abnormal movement of the cardiacwall is observed. It is desirable that such observation is conductedwhile parts other than the to-be-observed heart are static. This isbecause it is necessary to find out an abnormally moving region withinthe incessantly moving cardiac wall and to make a precise diagnosis.

Meanwhile, in case of an picture diagnosis by using the ultrasonicdiagnosis apparatus, a system for collecting pictures by applying anultrasonic probe to a subject is adopted. In this system, not only thepatient but also the ultrasonic probe is not fixed and it is possible tofreely change an observed region. Such a system is advantageous inconvenience and the degree of freedom. However, if the movement of theheart is observed using this system, pictures tend to be blurred due tothe movement of the subject's body and the movement of the inspector'shands. Even if pictures are collected while carefully preventing theblur of pictures, it is not clear whether or not pictures not blurredand suited for diagnosis can be obtained and the inspector needs todetermine whether or not the pictures are appropriate. Thisdetermination lacks objectivity and causes an increase in the burden onthe inspector. Such a system cannot expect effective diagnosis and mayincrease diagnosis time.

As described above, if making a diagnosis of a heart by using theultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, it is necessary to pay attention tocollecting blur-free pictures suited for diagnosis. The determinationwhether blur-free pictures have been obtained depends on the inspector,which disadvantageously lacks objectivity and imposes a burden on theinspector.

Moreover, since such information as to whether pictures useful for thediagnosis have been collected cannot be obtained, effective diagnosiscannot be conducted and more time is required for the diagnosis.

Furthermore, if movements of ultrasonic pictures of the heart areanalyzed on various points of the heart, they are considered beneficialto the various diagnoses of cardiac functions. To this end, if movementstates of respective parts can be tracked by extracting contours of thepictures, states of functions of the parts of the heart can be properlygrasped and more beneficial diagnosis can be expected.

However, according to the conventional method of displaying contours ofthe heart obtained as ultrasonic pictures, the extracted contours aremerely superimposed over original pictures or displayed completelydifferently. Due to this, it is difficult to determine whether theextracted contours are correct or not and it is therefore impossible totrack states of movements of various parts of the heart. It goes withoutsaying that the conventional method cannot be applied to the grasp ofmore detailed states of cardiac functions.

In addition, as software for drawing, coloring and filtering, there iscomputer graphic software (so-called a draw tool). Using the draw toolon a calculator, it is possible to form a graphic such as a contourmanually and to modify, scale and color the manually formed contour. Thedraw tool, however, lacks functions such as comparison of a target andthe picture of the target by superimposing the picture over the targetand analysis of time series shape changes. Due to this, the draw toolcannot be applied to the evaluation of the accuracy of the contourextraction result and the analysis of the movement state of the movingtarget using contour lines of the picture of the target as describedabove.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide anultrasonic picture processing method and an ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus capable of determining and collecting pictureswhich are important to the diagnosis of a disease and are not affectedby the movement of the subject's body or the movement of inspector'shands, from ultrasonic pictures obtained by the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide anultrasonic picture processing method and an ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus capable of easily determining whether extractedcontours are correct, capable of tracking and analyzing movement statesof various parts from the extracted contour information and capable ofmaking use of the result for a diagnosis.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pictureprocessing apparatus and a picture processing method capable ofautomatically calculating a terminal diastole period area or volume anda terminal systole period area or volume, capable of lessening a burdento the inspector and capable of obtaining an objective, accurateinspection result.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cardiacfunction analysis support apparatus and a cardiac function analysissupport method of precisely associating cardiac wall contours in varioustime phases to allow information calculated from contour information tobe displayed in the form which can be easily evaluated and thereby allowlocal movement states of the cardiac wall to be easily evaluated.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an ultrasonic picture processing methodand an ultrasonic picture processing apparatus wherein contourinformation of a target is extracted from ultrasonic moving pictureinformation, the contour information is sampled at preset time intervalsfor generating a plurality of time series contour data, and the contourdata is compared with other contour data, respectively to outputcomparison results.

The present invention provides an ultrasonic picture processing methodand an ultrasonic picture processing apparatus wherein contourinformation of a target is extracted from ultrasonic moving pictureinformation, the contour information is sampled at preset time intervalsto generate α plurality of time series contour data, and the contourdata is sequentially compared with other adjacent contour data,respectively, to make a predetermined determination of ultrasonic movingpictures based on comparison results.

The present invention provides a picture processing apparatus and apicture processing method having functions of extracting the contour ofa target on a picture, superimposing the extracted contour over thetarget on the picture and using, as the displayed contour, a dotted lineor a contour line in at least a desired portion.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. A display pictureis generated by superimposing the extracted contour, which is indicatedby a dotted line, over the target on the picture or by superimposing theextracted contour over the target on the picture only in a requiredregion, and is then outputted. That is, the contour is indicated by adotted line or part of the contour, such as an upper half of the contourand a right half of the contour, is displayed. In this way, it ispossible to display the contour to the extent that the entire contourcan be estimated only from information about the displayed portion. As aresult, the shape of the extracted contour and that of the target can beeasily compared.

The present invention also provides a picture processing apparatuscomprising means for operating a position command and a movement commandand means for extracting the contour of the target on the picture,generating a display picture so as to display the extracted contour andthe target by superimposing the extracted contour over the target on thepicture and generating a display picture so as to temporarily change theshape of or temporarily move the position of part of the contourincluding a portion indicated by the position command operation tothereby display the part of the contour together with the target on thepicture.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. The extractedcontour is superimposed over the target on the picture to thereby becomea display picture. In addition, by operating a position command, thedesired position of the contour is indicated. By operating a movementcommand, the movement of the contour is indicated. In accordance withthese commands, a display picture is changed such that the entirecontour or part of the contour including a portion indicated by thecommand operation is temporarily deformed or moved. That is, if, forexample, part of the contour is pulled by using a mouse, it istemporarily deformed and displayed. If stopping the mouse operation,part of the contour which has been pulled, returns to an originalposition and displayed. As a result, the shape of the extracted contourand that of the target can be easily compared.

The present invention also provides a picture processing apparatushaving a function of displaying the entire extracted contour or part ofthe extracted contour which is expanded outside by a predeterminedamount or contracted inside in accordance with the above commandoperation.

If a command is issued by the command operation, the entire extractedcontour or part of the extracted contour which is expanded outside by apredetermined amount or contracted inside by a predetermined amount isdisplayed. As a result, the shape of the extracted contour and that ofthe target can be easily compared.

The present invention also provides a picture processing apparatushaving a function of displaying the entire extracted contour region orpart of the contour region by moving it horizontally or vertically by apredetermined amount in accordance with the above command operation.

If a command is issued by the above command operation, the displaypicture is changed such that the entire extracted contour or designatedpart of the extracted contour, which is moved horizontally or verticallyby a predetermined amount in accordance with the command operation, isdisplayed. Therefore, it is possible to manually change the position ofthe contour on the display picture while keeping the original shape andmagnitude. As a result, the shape of the extracted contour and that ofthe target can be easily compared.

The present invention further provides a picture processing apparatushaving functions of extracting the contour of the target on the picture,oscillating and thereby displaying the entire extracted contour or partof the extracted contour externally, internally or both externally andinternally by a predetermined amount with reference to the contourposition of the target on the picture.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. The displaypicture is changed such that the entire extracted contour or part of theextracted contour is repeatedly moved so as to oscillate it externally,internally or both externally and internally by a predetermined amountwith reference to the contour position of the target on the picture.Therefore, the wobbling (wavering) contour is displayed whilemaintaining the original shape, thereby facilitating comparing the shapeof the extracted contour with the shape of the target.

In addition, the present invention provides a picture processingapparatus comprising means for extracting the contour of the target onthe picture and issuing a command for switching between a display and anon-display of the contour at predetermined time intervals and means forgenerating a display picture obtained by superimposing the contour overthe target picture during a time period in which the contour is to bedisplayed and for generating a display picture including only the targetpicture during periods other than the above time period to therebyflash-displaying the contour picture.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. A display pictureis generated by superimposing the extracted contour over the target onthe picture, whereby the contour is displayed. If a command is issued,the contour display period and the contour non-display period areswitched. During the contour non-display period, the contour iseliminated and only the target picture is present on the displaypicture. During the contour display period, the display picture ischanged to the picture where the contour is superimposed over the abovepicture, whereby the contour is displayed. As a result, if a command isissued, the contour is flash-displayed, thus facilitating comparing theshape of the extracted contour with that of the target.

The present invention provides a picture processing apparatus comprisingmeans for extracting the contour of the target on the picture andissuing a switching command, means for selectively generating a displaypicture obtained by superimposing the contour of the target over thetarget picture and a display picture including only the target picture,in accordance with the switching command.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. A display pictureis generated by superimposing the extracted contour over the target onthe picture, whereby the contour is displayed. When a switching commandis issued, the display picture is changed to a display picture includingonly the target picture, and displayed. As a result, if a switchingcommand is give by an operator's operation, it is possible to eliminateor display the contour by the operator's operation, thus facilitatingcomparing the shape of the extracted contour with that of the target.

The present invention also provides a picture processing apparatuscomprising means for extracting the contour of the target on the pictureand designating a desired region of the extracted contour, means forissuing a switching command, means for selectively generating a displaypicture obtaining by superimposing the contour of the target over thetarget picture, a display picture including only the target, a displaypicture obtaining by eliminating the contour designated by thedesignation means or the contour other than the designated contour fromthe superimposed picture of the target picture and the target contour,in accordance with the switching command.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. A display pictureis generated by superimposing the extracted contour over the target onthe picture, whereby the extracted contour is displayed. When a desiredregion of the extracted contour is designated and a switching command isissued, the display picture is changed to a display picture obtained bysuperimposing the contour over the above target picture while thedesignated contour or the contour other than the designated contour iseliminated in accordance with the switching command, and the changedpicture is displayed. When a switching command is given, the displaypicture is changed to a display picture including only the targetpicture and displayed. As a result, if a switching command is given bythe operator's operation, it is possible to eliminate or display thecontour by the operator's operation, and to designate an eliminatedregion or a display region, thus facilitating comparing the shape of theextracted contour with that of the target.

The present invention provides a picture processing apparatus havingfunctions of extracting the contour of the target on the picture, makingthe brightness of the picture with that of the original picture andgenerating a display picture so as to display the contour and theoriginal picture with different colors.

The contour of the target on the picture is extracted. A display pictureis generated by superimposing the extracted contour over the target onthe picture, and the display picture is displayed. At this time, thebrightness of the contour is made proportional to that of the originalpicture and is given a color different from that of the originalpicture. By so doing, the contour and the original picture are displayedwith difference colors. That is, a translucent contour is displayed. Asa result, while the original picture can be observed even in the contourportion, the contour portion can be also observed, thus facilitatingcomparing the shape of the extracted contour with that of the target.

As described above, the present invention is intended to extract thecontour of the target on the picture, to divide the extracted contourinto a display portion and a non-display portion and to display thetarget picture and the display portion of the contour by superimposingthe display portion of the contour over the target picture. In addition,the present invention is intended to extract the contour of the targeton the picture and to display the extracted contour region bysuperimposing it over the target on the picture and by scaling it.Furthermore, the present invention is intended to display the contourwith a different color from that of the original picture and to switchthe display picture between the picture obtained by superimposing thecontour over the target and the picture including only the originalpicture. Therefore, the contour picture and the original picture can beeasily compared, thereby making it easy to compare the shape of thecontour and that of the original picture at high accuracy. Due to this,it becomes possible to apply the present invention to the evaluation ofthe accuracy of the contour extraction result or the analysis of themovement state of the moving target by using the contour lines.

The present invention provides a picture processing apparatus comprisingmeans for extracting contours of the target from a series of movingpictures, means for obtaining contour internal areas for respectivepictures from the contour information extracted from the respectivepictures, means for detecting either a maximum contour internal area ora minimum contour internal area or both maximum and minimum contourinternal areas within a predetermined time period and means forobtaining the contour internal area of the above picture from thedetected value.

The picture processing apparatus for extracting contours of the heartfrom a series of heart moving pictures showing the cross section of theheart comprises means for obtaining contour internal areas forrespective pictures from the contour information extracted from therespective pictures, means for obtaining either a maximum or minimumcontour internal area or both maximum and minimum contour internal areasamong the contours of the respective pictures within a predeterminedtime period and means for specifying pictures corresponding to eitherthe heart terminal diastole period or the heart terminal systole period,or both the heart terminal diastole period and the heart terminalsystole period based on the detected values.

That is, the present invention provides a picture processing apparatusfor extracting contours of the target from moving pictures obtained by,for example, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, calculating areas ofthe extracted contours and detecting the maximum and minimum areas as aterminal diastole area and a terminal systole area, respectively.

The present invention provides a picture processing apparatus forextracting contours of the target from moving pictures obtained by, forexample, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, respectively, calculatinginternal volumes of the extracted contours using the extracted contours,obtaining maximum and minimum volumes among the obtained contourinternal volumes and detecting the maximum and minimum volumes as aterminal diastole volume and a terminal systole volume, respectively.

The present invention provides a picture processing method comprisingthe steps of extracting contours of the target from moving picturesobtained by, for example, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, obtainingan area/volume showing a minimum moving amount on time-by-time basisfrom moving amounts obtained by using the extracted contours anddetecting a maximum and a minimum area/volume as a terminal diastolearea/volume and a terminal systole area/volume, respectively.

According to the present invention, it is possible to accuratelydetermine the heart terminal diastole period and the heart terminalsystole period from concrete areas or volumes of the heart and to obtainthe pumping function of the heart quantitatively. Thus, objectivemeasurement information useful to the diagnosis of the subject's cardiacfunction can be easily obtained while lessening the burden on theinspector.

The present invention provides a cardiac function analysis supportapparatus and a cardiac function analysis support method for dividingcardiac wall contours into a plurality of regions based on thecharacteristic points of the cardiac wall contours detected manually orautomatically from the cardiac wall contour information extractedmanually or automatically from time series heart pictures obtained fromthe picture diagnosis apparatus, associating the divided contour regionsin different time phases with one another and outputting cardiacmovement information.

By so doing, even if the cardiac wall moves in parallel to the contourtangent direction, characteristic points can be detected. As a result,it is possible to accurately associate characteristic points for timeseries pictures and to accurately associate a plurality of pictures ofthe cardiac wall portions divided based on the characteristic points.That is, it is possible to divide a cardiac wall region and to analyzethe cardiac function conformable to the actual cardiac wall movement.

According to the present invention, an annulus valva and a cardiac apexor a papillary muscle are set as characteristic points. By so doing,inappropriate association is prevented from occurring in the vicinity ofvalves or the cardiac apex, which has been a problem, particularly, tothe center line method. Besides, the use of the papillary muscle enablesassociation by short axis pictures to be conducted accurately.

According to the present invention, the divided cardiac wall contourregions are classified for positions at the cardiac wall, respectively.Among the classified cardiac wall contours, adjacent contours aredisplayed with different colors or different brightness. By so doing, itis possible to display cardiac wall regions referred to as a front wallcardiac apex portion and a lower wall base portion with differentcolors, thereby facilitating grasping the state of the wall movements inrespective cardiac wall regions.

According to the present invention, a picture in a desired time phaseserving as a reference time phase is automatically or manually set amongtime series heart pictures, the cardiac wall contours are divided,moving amounts of division points of the contours of the pictures inrespective time phases from the corresponding division points of thecontour of the picture in the reference time phase are calculated,respectively. The calculated moving amounts are displayed by at leastone of numerical display, graph display or color display of the cardiacwall. By so doing, it is possible to easily discriminate a region havinga large moving amount from a region having a small moving amount in thecardiac wall, thereby increasing the efficiency of the analysis of thecardiac function.

According to the present invention, velocity information obtained fromthe ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is classified for the divided pointsof the cardiac wall contours. Velocity statistic is calculated for theclassified cardiac wall positions, respectively and the calculatedvelocity statistic is displayed by at least one of numerical display,graph display and color display of cardiac wall. By so doing, it ispossible to easily confirm velocity information of respective cardiacwall regions classified for the sake of a diagnosis, thereby increasingthe efficiency of the analysis of the cardiac function.

The present invention is characterized in that a dynamic range of themoving amounts of the cardiac wall division points is detected, displaycolors for displaying velocity information obtained from the ultrasonicdiagnosis apparatus on the picture are allotted within the dynamicrange. By so doing, even if the overall wall movement is small, it ispossible to clearly display differences in moving amounts between partsof the cardiac wall.

Additional object and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectand advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means ofthe instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, and together with the general description given above andthe detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of anultrasonic picture processing apparatus using the ultrasonic pictureprocessing method in the first embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for describing processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in the first embodiment according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 shows an example of an extracted cardiac wall contour;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing a method for moving information aboutthe extracted time series contours;

FIG. 5 shows an example of comparison results of moving informationabout sampled contours;

FIG. 6 shows an example of moving information about cardiac wallcontours without an influence of the movement of hands and the movementof a body;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in an embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for describing processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in an embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for describing recording processing of time seriesinformation for every sampling time and comparison processing of therecorded contour information in the ultrasonic picture processing methodin an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for describing a method for dividing contours;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for describing a method for sampling divided timeseries contour information;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for describing processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in an embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 13 shows an example of a cardiac muscle region used for theextraction of moving information;

FIG. 14 shows an example of a region used for the extraction of movinginformation;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for describing processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in an embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 shows an example of characteristic points on a picture used forthe extraction of moving information in an embodiment according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 17 shows an example of a concerned region on a picture used for theextraction of moving information in the ultrasonic picture processingmethod in an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of the picture processing apparatusin an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of the picture input section of the pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of the contour extraction section of thepicture processing apparatus of FIG. 18;

FIGS. 21A and 21B show a contour region and a display region in thepicture processing apparatus of FIG. 18, respectively;

FIG. 22 shows an example of picture display in the picture processingapparatus of FIG. 18;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a diagram for describing an example of an enlarged contour inthe picture processing apparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 25 shows the operation input section of the picture processingapparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 26 is a diagram for describing an operation example in the pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 27 is a diagram for describing an operation example in the pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 28 is a diagram for describing an operation example in the pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 29 is a diagram for describing an operation example in the pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 23;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart for showing an example of a picture processingflow in the picture processing apparatus of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 shows an example of an extracted heart contour in the pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 32;

FIG. 35 is a flowchart for showing a detailed processing flow of theprocessing step S204 of FIG. 33;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing an example of a picture processing flowin the picture processing apparatus of FIG. 36;

FIG. 38 is a diagram for describing how to obtain an area by countingthe number of pixels in the picture processing of FIG. 36;

FIG. 39 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 40 is a flowchart for showing a processing flow in the pictureprocessing apparatus in the embodiment of FIG. 39;

FIG. 41 is a diagram for describing how to obtain an area by polygonapproximation in the processing of FIG. 40;

FIG. 42 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the pictureprocessing apparatus in the embodiment of FIG. 42;

FIG. 44 is a diagram for describing how to obtain a volume of the crosssection of the heart;

FIG. 45 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the pictureprocessing apparatus in the embodiment of FIG. 45;

FIG. 47 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 48 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the pictureprocessing apparatus in the embodiment of FIG. 47;

FIG. 49 is a block diagram of the picture processing apparatus in anembodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 50 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the pictureprocessing apparatus in the embodiment of FIG. 49;

FIG. 51 is a block diagram of the cardiac function analysis supportapparatus in an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 52 is a flowchart for showing a processing flow in the cardiacfunction analysis support apparatus of FIG. 51;

FIG. 53 is an explanatory diagram of the inputted contour in theembodiment of FIGS. 52 and 53;

FIG. 54 is an explanatory diagram of the detection of characteristicpoints in the embodiment of FIGS. 52 and 53;

FIG. 55 is an explanatory diagram of contour division in the embodimentof FIGS. 52 and 53;

FIG. 56 is an explanatory diagram of association of cardiac wallcontours in a plurality of time phases in the embodiment of FIGS. 51 and52;

FIG. 57 is an explanatory diagram of a display method in the embodimentof FIGS. 51 and 52;

FIG. 58 is an explanatory diagram of a display method in the embodimentof FIGS. 51 and 52;

FIG. 59 is a diagram for describing an example of applying theembodiment of FIGS. 51 and 52 to a short axis heart picture;

FIG. 60 is a block diagram of the cardiac function analysis supportapparatus in an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 61 is a flowchart for describing a processing flow of the cardiacfunction analysis support method in the embodiment of FIG. 60;

FIG. 62 is an explanatory diagram of a display method in the embodimentof FIGS. 60 and 61;

FIG. 63 is an explanatory diagram of a method for displaying velocitychange in the embodiment of FIGS. 60 and 61;

FIG. 64 is an explanatory diagram of a movement area in the embodimentof FIGS. 60 and 61;

FIG. 65 is a block diagram of the cardiac function analysis supportapparatus in an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 66 is a flowchart for describing a processing flow of the cardiacfunction analysis support method in the embodiment of FIG. 65;

FIG. 67 is an explanatory diagram of a display method in the embodimentof FIGS. 65 and 66;

FIG. 68 is a block diagram of the cardiac function analysis supportapparatus in an embodiment according to the present invention; and

FIG. 69 is a flowchart for describing a processing flow of the cardiacfunction analysis support method in the embodiment of FIG. 68.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference tothe drawings.

First, the structure of an ultrasonic picture processing apparatus willbe described with reference to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 10 is connected to anultrasonic picture processing apparatus 20. The ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus 20 comprises a moving picture input section 21, acontour extraction section 22, a sampling section 23, a storage 24, acomparator 25 and an output section 26. Heart moving pictures outputtedfrom the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 10 are sequentially inputtedinto the moving picture input section 21. The contour extraction section22 extracts contours of moving pictures inputted into the moving pictureinput section 21 or extracts a region of the heart.

An information divider 23 divides time series information of contours ofa cardiac wall or a region of the heart extracted at the contourextraction section 22 for each predetermined sampling time period, forexample, a sampling time period set based on a heart rate measurementvalue inputted from an external apparatus. The divided information istemporarily stored in the storage 24.

The comparator 25 compares the divided information about the contours ofthe cardiac wall or the regions of the heart stored in the storage 24with one another. The comparator 25 also compares a comparison value (ora reference value) previously stored therein and suited for a diagnosiswith the divided information about the contours of the cardiac wall orthe regions of the heart stored in the storage 24, to determine whethermoving pictures are useful for the diagnosis. The moving pictures, ifdetermined as useful pictures, are stored in, for example, the storage24.

The output section 26 includes, for example, a display for displayingcomparison values indicated by a formula (1) in a time series manner;i.e., Diff (a, b), Diff (b, c), . . . or as shown in FIG. 5. The outputsection 26 also reads the moving pictures determined as useful for thediagnosis by the comparator 25, from the storage 24 and displays them.The moving pictures determined as useful pictures are fed to theultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 10 to serve as processing targets duringpredetermined diagnosis processing.

FIG. 1 describes the ultrasonic picture processing apparatus 20 as anexternal apparatus connected to the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus 10.The structure elements of the ultrasonic moving picture processingapparatus 20 shown in FIG. 1 may be incorporated into the ultrasonicdiagnosis apparatus 10.

The ultrasonic moving picture processing method in the first embodimentaccording to the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 1 through 6, using a case of the diagnosis of the heart by way ofexample.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, heart moving pictures are inputtedinto the moving picture input section 21 of the ultrasonic movingpicture processing apparatus 20 from the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus10 (S1). Contours of a target (cardiac wall) are extracted from theinputted moving pictures by the extraction unit 22 (S2). The extractionof the contours of the cardiac wall can be automatically and easilyperformed by using, for example, a method of active contour models andballoons (Laurent D, Cohen, CVGIP: IU, 53(2): 211=218, 1991). Next,sampling time periods for dividing time series contour information areset (S3). In this embodiment, the values which have been inputted inadvance are set as sampling time. Thereafter, respective pieces of timeseries contour information extracted at the thus set sampling time arestored in the storage 24 (S4). Pieces of the stored contour informationare compared with one another by the comparator 25 (S5).

The comparison in this embodiment is conducted as follows. As shown inFIG. 3, movement amounts of the entire cardiac wall contour 30 extractedin the step S2 are averaged and divided for every sampling time St andthe movements are recorded (see FIG. 4). In this embodiment, sinceabsolute values of the movement amounts are recorded with reference to acontour at a given time period, positive values are obtained as shown inFIG. 4. Due to the periodic cardiac movement, a periodic graph isobtained as shown in FIG. 4.

The sampled data series are set as Ta, Tb, Tc . . . and adjacent dataseries such as Ta and Tb, Tb and Tc, are compared. The comparison ismade using an error of mean square as shown in the following formula(1): $\begin{matrix}{{{Diff}\left( {a,b} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{n - 1}\quad\frac{\sqrt{\left( {{{Ta}(i)} - {{Tb}(i)}} \right)^{2}}}{n}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

The formula (1) shows an example of the comparison of the data series Taand Tb. In the formula (1), Ta(i) denotes the i-th data (i-th movementamount) of the data series Ta, Tb(i) denotes the i-th data of the dataseries Tb and n denotes the number of data series. The number n isdetermined by the processed number during the extraction of the cardiacwall contours. For example, if the frame rate of moving picturesobtained from the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus is 30 (frame/second)and contours of all of the frames of the moving pictures are extracted,then n is calculated by the following formula (2), while the contourdata sampling time set as Ts (second) as described above:n=Ts×30  (2)

Finally, comparison values obtained from the formula (1) are displayedin a time series manner such as Diff (a, b), Diff (b, c), . . . as shownin FIG. 5 (S6).

Due to the periodic heart movement, if there are no movements, such asthe movement of the body or the movement of hands, other than the heart,a periodic and uniform curve is provided by plotting the movementamounts of the cardiac wall as shown in FIG. 6. In such a case, thecomparison value Diff in the formula (1) is quite low (almost “0”).

On the other hand, if the movement of the body or the movement of handsare added to the movement of the cardiac wall, the movement amounts ofthe cardiac wall are expressed as an irregular curve as shown in FIG. 4and the comparison value Diff becomes higher. As such a manner, since itis possible to determine whether or not the collected moving picturesinclude the movement of the body or the movement of the hands bycomparing moving amounts of the contours in respective sampling periods,it is possible to easily collect moving pictures useful for thediagnosis.

In this embodiment, comparison values of the contour moving amounts aredisplayed for determining whether or not the moving pictures are usefulfor the diagnosis. It is also possible to determine the usefulness ofthe moving pictures by displaying graphs obtained by plotting contourmovements on time-by-time bases as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. In the lattercase, determination cannot be made based on a quantitative index.However, since visual determination is possible to a certain extend,pictures free from the movement of the body or the movement of the handscan be easily collected. The comparison result of contour movementamounts are displayed by plotting comparison values on time-by-timebasis. The comparison values may be displayed directly.

Next, the second embodiment according to the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing other processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in this embodiment. The same steps as those inFIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Description will begiven only to steps different from the case of FIG. 2. That is, in thisembodiment, a comparison value suited for a diagnosis is set as areference value in advance as shown in FIG. 7. By comparing the contourinformation with the reference value, it is determined whether or notmoving pictures are useful for the diagnosis (S7). The comparisonresults are displayed, as well (S6).

The ultrasonic moving pictures determined as useful for the diagnosisare fed back to, for example, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus andbecome diagnosis targets.

The third embodiment according to the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing other processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method in this embodiment. In these steps, samplingtime is determined based on heartbeat information obtained by anelectrocardiograph as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the processing is the same as that ofFIG. 2 from steps S1 through S6. However, in step S3, when sampling timeis set, heartbeat is measured by the electrocardiograph (S8) andsampling time is set based on the heartbeat information obtained fromthe electrocardiograph.

Due to the periodic cardiac movement, it is desirable that the samplingtime for time series contour information is the same as the period ofthe heartbeat. The heartbeat period of a human is about 1 second;however, it depends on individual subjects. Therefore, if settingsampling time based on the information from the electrocardiograph asmentioned above, it is possible to determine whether or not thecollected moving pictures are suited for the diagnosis at highprecision.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9through 11. This embodiment illustrates a case of calculating comparisonvalues not using an average contour movement amount but the contourmovement amounts of respective parts. Description will be given only toelements different from those of the preceding embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 9, in step S4, when time series contour information isrecorded, the extracted cardiac wall contour 30 are divided into aplurality of regions (R1, R2, . . . , RN−1), respectively as shown inFIG. 10 (S9). Time series information about respective divided regions(such as regions R0, R1) is recorded for every sampling time (St) asshown in FIG. 11 (S10).

Next, during the comparison of contour information in the step S5, dataseries comparison is made for respective divided regions (R0, R1, . . ., RN−1) by using the above-described method and comparison values in therespective regions are calculated by the following formula (3) (S11).$\begin{matrix}{{{{Diff\_ R0}\left( {a,b} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{n - 1}\quad\frac{\sqrt{\left( {{{Ta}(i)} - {{Tb}(i)}} \right)^{2}}}{n}}}{{{Diff\_ R1}\left( {a,b} \right)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{n - 1}\quad\frac{\sqrt{\left( {{{Ta}(i)} - {{Tb}(i)}} \right)^{2}}}{n}}}\vdots} & (3)\end{matrix}$

In the formula (3), DiffΔR0 (a, b) denotes a comparison value of thedata series Ta and Tb in the region R0 and Diff ΔR1 (a, b) denotes acomparison value of the data series Ta and Tb in the region R1.Thereafter, in this embodiment, the calculated comparison values areaveraged using a formula (4) (S12) and the results are displayed ascomparison values of the overall contours as shown in FIG. 5 (S6).$\begin{matrix}\frac{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{N - 1}{{Diff\_ R1}\left( {a,b} \right)}}{N} & (4)\end{matrix}$

In the formula (4), N denotes the number of divided contours. Otherprocessing steps are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Yet another embodiment according to the present invention will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. This embodiment illustratesa case of using region information as time series data used in thecomparison processing in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of the ultrasonicpicture processing method of this embodiment.

Heart moving pictures are inputted from the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus (S31). A region of the heart is extracted from the inputtedmoving pictures (S32). In this embodiment, the region refers to a heartmuscle (a region between an outer cardiac wall 31 and an inner cardiacwall 32).

Thereafter, as in the case of FIG. 8, the heart rate is measured by theelectrocardiograph (S38) and sampling time is set based on theinformation obtained from the measurement of the heart rate (S33). Timeseries region information is recorded for every sampling time (S34).Respective pieces of the recorded time series region information arecompared (S35). Finally, comparison results are displayed (S36).

In this embodiment, the region information used in the comparison isrelated to the region of the entire heart muscle. However, it is alsopossible to divide the heart muscle into a plurality of regions asdescribed in the embodiment of FIG. 9 and to compare time series regioninformation. Furthermore, this embodiment uses the heart muscle as atarget region. However, using the fact that the echo strength of bloodand those of other portions differ (usually, the echo strength of bloodis lower than those of other portions) in the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus, it is possible to divide a target region into a blood region41 surrounded by the cardiac wall 40 and the remaining region (indicatedby oblique lines) as shown in FIG. 14 and to obtain movement informationabout one of or both of the divided regions.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 15. Thisembodiment illustrates a case of conducting processing (recording ofmoving pictures) in accordance with the result of the recorded timeseries information. In the flowchart of FIG. 15, the same processingsteps as those of FIGS. 2, 7 and 8 are denoted by the same referencenumerals.

In FIG. 15, after comparing the recorded contour information in a stepS5, the results are displayed in a step S6. As described in theembodiment of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not a picturesatisfies a preset criteria (whether it is a picture free from the handmovement or the body movement and suited for the diagnosis) (S7). Ifsatisfying the criteria, the original moving picture is recorded in apredetermined storage medium (S13).

The moving pictures satisfying the criteria are fed back to, forexample, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus and become diagnosistargets.

By so doing, unnecessary pictures unsuited for the diagnosis are notrecorded and wastefulness of the storage medium can be thus eliminated.

The embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 15 employthe movement amounts of the contours or region of a target asinformation to be used when determining whether pictures are useful forthe diagnosis. It is possible to employ movement amounts obtained byautomatically detecting or manually setting characteristic points 50 onthe target 40, i.e., adjacent to the contour thereof and tracking thesemovements.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 17, it is possible to set an optionalconcerned region 60 on the target (or cardiac wall) 40, to track theregion 60 by calculating an optical flow in the inner region or by usingthe correlation method and to thereby obtain and compare time seriesmovement amounts.

Although the above-described embodiments employ a heart as a target, thepresent invention can be applied to organs other than the heart. In suchcases, other organs do not move periodically like the heart andmovements of the contours or region are not represented by a periodiccurve. Due to this, it is not necessary to set sampling time periodsbased on the electrocardiograph information. Rather, preset optionaltime periods can be used.

The methods described above can be stored as programs which can beexecuted by a computer, in a storage medium such as a magnetic disc(floppy disc, hard disc and the like), an optical disc (CD-ROM, DVD andthe like) and a semiconductor memory.

In the above-described embodiments, contour information or regioninformation is extracted from ultrasonic moving pictures and the timeseries contour information or region information is divided based on thepreset sampling time periods. However, it is also possible to divide theultrasonic moving picture based on preset sampling time periods inadvance and then to extract contour information or region informationfrom the frame pictures during the respective time period.

As described above, according to the embodiments of the presentinvention, moving pictures which are free from the movement of thesubject's body or the movement of the inspector's hands and important tothe diagnosis of a disease can be easily determined and collected fromthe ultrasonic pictures obtained by the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus.

Now, the description will be given to a picture processing apparatus andmethod capable of displaying pictures such that it can be easilydetermined whether the extracted contours are correct or not and thatmovement states of respective portions can be tracked and analyzed fromthe extracted contour information.

As shown in FIG. 18, the picture processing apparatus comprises apicture input section 101, a contour extraction section 102, a displayregion determination section 103 and a display picture generationsection 104.

The picture input section 101 receives ultrasonic pictures from, forexample, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, as original picture andinput the pictures into the contour extraction section 102. The contourextraction section 102 has a function of extracting contours of a targetfrom the original pictures inputted by the picture input section 101.The display region determination section 103 has a function ofdetermining a region to be displayed from the contour region (the entireregion of the extracted contour lines) extracted by the contourextraction section 102. The display picture generation section 104 has afunction of generating a display picture by superimposing a displayregion within the contour region determined by the display regiondetermination section 103 over the original pictures previously inputtedby the picture input section 101. The picture display section 105displays the picture obtained by the display picture generation section104.

With the above structure, when the picture input section 101 inputs anoriginal picture such as an ultrasonic picture into the contourextraction section 102, the contour extraction section 102 extracts thecontour of a target from the original picture received from the pictureinput section 101 by a method using active contour models and feeds thecontour to the display region determination section 103. The displayregion determination section 103 determines a display region from theextracted contour region (the entire region of the extracted contourlines) and feeds the determined information, that is, the display regionto the display picture generation section 104. The display picturegeneration section 104 generates a display picture by superimposing thedisplay region within the contour region determined by the displayregion determination section 103 (a display target region within theentire region of the contour lines) over the original picture previouslyinputted by the picture input section 101. The picture display section105 displays the display picture obtained by the display picturegeneration section 104, that is, a superposition picture of the contourpicture over the original picture. The display picture is therefore apicture obtained by superimposing the respective contour lines over theoriginal picture, whereby both the original picture and the contourlines can be observed. This makes it possible to easily verify whetherthe contour lines are aligned to the target portion and to observe apicture.

The picture input section 101 has a structure as shown in FIG. 19.Namely, the picture input section 101 comprises an picture pickup unit106, an picture data converter 107 and a picture storage section 108.

Among these elements, the picture pickup unit 106 obtains a real-timemoving picture (as well as a still picture). The unit 106 correspondsto, for example, a medical diagnosis apparatus such as an ultrasonicdiagnosis apparatus. The picture data converter 107 converts a picturesignal obtained by the picture pickup unit 106 into a data format inunits of frames (units of picture planes) so that the contour extractionsection 102 can handle it. The picture storage section 108 storespicture signal data converted by the picture data converter 107.

The picture input section 101 having this structure coverts a picturesignal from the picture pickup unit 106, such as an ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus, into a data format which can be handled by the contourextraction section 102 at the picture data converter 107 and stores theconverted data in the picture storage section 108. The picture inputsection 101 then reads the data stored in the picture storage section108 and supplies the data to the contour extraction section 102 and tothe display picture generation section 104.

The contour extraction section 102 has a structure as shown in FIG. 20.A case of extracting contours using active contour models will bedescribed hereinafter. The contour extraction section 102 comprises aninitial value setting section 109, an energy calculator 110, aconvergence determination section 111 and a discrete point movingsection 112.

Among these elements, the initial value setting section 109 has afunction of setting an initial contour. In this case, the initial valuesetting section 109 sets a contour by manually providing the coordinateof the initial contour. If the coordinate of the initial contour isprovided manually, a GUI (graphical user interface) and a pointingdevice such as a mouse, a pen, a track ball, are used. By operating thedirection cursor of the pointing device, a coordinate is designated onthe display picture plane. An initial contour is thereby plotted andinputted on the picture plane. An original picture is displayed on thedisplay plane. Using the pointing device, the coordinates of positionsof the contour lines are designated and plotted on the original picture.The inputted coordinate positions are displayed on the picture plane andstored as coordinate position information. The contour thus inputted isexpressed as a collection of representative coordinates on the contourand stored in this form in the built-in memory of the initial settingsection 109.

The energy calculator 110 calculates the sum of the internal energy ofthe contour, picture energy and external energy given at need. Thediscrete point moving section 112 has a function of moving the contour(conducting a convergence calculation) so that the energy sum calculatedby the energy calculator 110 is as small as possible.

The convergence determination section 111 functions to receiveinformation about the sum of energies calculated by the energycalculator 110, to determine whether or not a change in the sum ofenergy is smaller than a predetermined value, to determine that the sumof energy is convergent when the change is smaller than thepredetermined value, to issue a command to stop the convergencecalculation to the energy calculator 110 and to thereby end theconvergence calculation at the energy calculator 110.

The display region determination section 103 functions to set a regionfor connecting representative points on the contour obtained by thecontour extraction section 102 by straight lines or curves and todetermine a display portion within the region.

The display picture generation section 104 functions to replace only thepixel value in the portion of the original picture inputted by thepicture input section 101 corresponding to the display region within thecontour region determined by the display region determination section103, with a different pixel value and to thereby generate α displaypicture having the display region within the contour region superimposedover the original picture. The picture display section 105 functions todisplay the picture generated by the display picture generation section104 on a display device.

The contour extraction section 102 having the above structure operatesas follows. An initial contour is set by the initial value settingsection 109. Coordinates of the initial contour are given manually. Thecontour is expressed as a collection of representative coordinates onthe contour and stored in this form in the built-in memory. When theinitial contour is set by the initial value setting section 109, theenergy calculator 110 calculates a sum of the internal energy of theinitial contour, picture energy and external energy given at need. Thediscrete point moving section 112 moves the contour so that the energysum calculated by the energy calculator 110 is as small as possible.

The convergence determination section 111 monitors a change in theenergy sum calculated by the energy calculator 110, determines whetherthis change is smaller than a predetermined value and issues a commandto stop a convergence calculation to the discrete point moving section112 when the change is smaller than the predetermined value. When thechange is larger than the predetermined value, the convergencedetermination section 111 operates so that the discrete point movingsection 112 repeats moving the contour. When the change is smaller thanthe predetermined value as a result, the discrete point moving section112 ends moving the discrete point.

The display region determination section 103 sets a display region as aregion obtained by connecting representative points of the contourobtained by the contour extraction section 2 by straight lines orcurves. The display region determination section 103 determines aportion to be displayed in that region. The portion is, for example, aportion in which the contour is repeatedly displayed and not displayedat certain intervals (refer to FIGS. 21A and 21B).

The display picture generation section 104 generates a display pictureby replacing only the pixel value of a portion of the original pictureinputted by the picture input section 101, corresponding to the displayregion within the contour determined by the display region determinationsection 103, with a different pixel value.

The display section 105 displays the picture generated by the displaypicture generation section 104 on a display device such as a display(refer to FIG. 22).

Both the information about the contour extraction result and theinformation about the vicinity of the contour of the original picturecan be indicated at a time by failing to display part of the contourregion as mentioned above.

In other words, in this embodiment, when an original picture, which is,for example, an ultrasonic picture of the heart, is inputted, a contouris roughly inputted on the ultrasonic picture of the heart and theinputted contour line is automatically corrected by the energycalculation and the like based on the inputted contour. Then the contourlines or the picture of the contour region in the designated displaytarget portion is superimposed over the original picture and displayed.Furthermore, the picture on the displayed contour line or in the contourregion is periodically replaced with the original picture, therebymaking it possible to clearly compare the contour with the targetportion of the original picture.

The apparatus in this embodiment can easily extract a target portion ofthe original picture and allows a user to easily determine whether ornot the extracted contour is correct based on the direct comparison ofthe extracted contour with the original picture.

Therefore, by evaluating the accuracy of the extracted contour andutilizing the information about the accurately extracted contour for ananalysis, it is possible to apply the contour line of the moving targetpicture to the analysis of the moving state of the target.

Another embodiment for extracting and displaying contour lines will bedescribed.

In this embodiment, an example of displaying the contour expandedoutside by a predetermined amount or reduced inside by means ofinputting commands by a user interactively.

The structure of this embodiment is illustrated by FIG. 23. The pictureprocessing apparatus of FIG. 23 comprises a picture input section 101, acontour extraction section 102, a display region determination section103, a display picture generation section 104, a picture display section105 and an operation input section 113.

The picture input section 101, the contour extraction section 102, thedisplay picture generation section 104 and the picture display section105 in this embodiment are the same as those in the embodiment of FIG.18. The apparatus in this embodiment is characterized by comprising theoperation input section 113. The operation input section 113 designatesthe picture display magnification of a target portion on the displayplane, displays the target portion in the form shown in FIG. 25 on thepicture plane and designates a scaling rate by selecting the rate usinga mouse cursor.

As shown in FIG. 25, the operation input section 113 has threeoperations buttons; i.e., an “enlargement” button 113 a, a “reduction”button 113 b, and a “return” button 113 c. When pushing the“enlargement” button 113 a, the picture scaling rate α is increased.When pushing the “reduction” button 113 b, The picture scaling rate α isreduced. When pushing the “return” button 113 c, the picture scalingrate α is returned to the original rate and a command to display apicture at 100% magnification can be issued. This command is outputtedby using the value of the scaling rate a.

This embodiment shows an example of using buttons at the operation inputsection 113. A slide bar, a dial, a mouse and the like may be used asinput means, as well.

The display region determination section 103 converts coordinate of thecontour data X into X′ based on the scaling rate α given from theoperation input section 113 (refer to FIG. 24):X={(x1, y1), (x2, y2), . . . , (xn, yn)}  (5)X={(x1′, y1′), (x2′, y2′), . . . , (xn′, yn′)}  (6)

Here, xi′=x0+α(xi−x0); yi′=y0+α(yi−y0); n is the number ofrepresentative points; and (x0, y0) is the center of gravity of thecontour. $\begin{matrix}{x_{0} = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}x_{i}}}} & (7) \\{y_{0} = {\frac{1}{n}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}y_{i}}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$

The example of the operation will be described hereinafter.

FIG. 26 illustrates a picture plane displayed on the picture displaysection 105. The picture display shows a state right after the contourextraction section 102 conducts processing shown in FIG. 18, the displaypicture generation section 104 generates a display picture obtained bysuperimposing an extracted contour region (all of the extracted contourlines) over an original picture. and the picture display section 105displays the display picture 114. On this plane, reference numeral 114denotes a picture of the target region obtained by superimposing thecontour region over the original picture and reference numeral 15denotes buttons 113 a to 113 c.

FIG. 27 illustrates a display plane on the picture display section 105when operating the buttons and, in particular, right after pushing the“enlargement” button 113 a. Only the contour region (or extractedcontour lines) is enlarged and the picture of the target region is notenlarged. By expanding only the contour region (or extracted contourlines) outside, the original picture in the vicinity of the contourregion can be observed. Thereafter, by pushing the “return” button 113c, the picture returns to its original unscaled (in FIG. 28). If thecontour region can be more easily observed by reducing the pictureinside, the “reduction” button 113 b is pushed to thereby reduce thepicture inside (in FIG. 29).

This embodiment displays the picture in the contour region (or extractedcontour lines) by scaling the picture on the original picture. Due tothis, it is possible to easily compare the picture in the contour regionwith the original picture, thereby facilitating the comparison anddetermination of the shape at high accuracy.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 30 illustrates a case of displaying thecontour by wobbling it inside and outside by a predetermined amount withreference to the extracted contour portion. The structure of thisembodiment is the same as the embodiment of FIG. 23 except that theoperation input section 113 can designate an amplitude A and a timeperiod T of the wobbling. It is of course possible to automaticallydesignate them. The system in this embodiment has a function of, ifgiven an amplitude A and a time period T of wobbling, moving the picturein the contour region (or extracted contour lines) at the amplitude Aand at the time period T and generating a picture to be displayed overthe original picture.

The system in this embodiment is also provided with the operation inputsection 113. If the operation input section 113 designates an amplitudeA and a time period T of wobbling, information about the amplitude A andtime period T is supplied to the display region determination section103.

The display region determination section 103, if given the amplitude Aand time period T from the operation input section 113, converts thecoordinate of (xi, yi) of representative point on each contour into acoordinate (xi′, yi′) expressed by the following formula (9) and formula(10):xi′=x0+A(xi−x0)sin(2πt/T)  (9)yi′=y0+A(yi−y0)sin(2πt/T)  (10)

Here, π is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, tis time and (xi, yi) is the center of gravity of the contour asdescribed in the embodiment of FIG. 23.

According to the system in this embodiment having the above structure, acontour region (or all contour lines) is obtained by the same proceduresas in FIG. 18, a display picture obtained by superimposing the contourregion over the target region of the original picture is generated bythe display picture generation section 104 and the obtained picture isdisplayed on the display unit such as a display by the picture displaysection 105.

Meanwhile, according to this system, if the operation input section 113designates the amplitude A and time period T of wobbling, theinformation is given to the display region determination section 103.The display region determination section 103 converts a coordinate (xi,yi) of the representative point of the contour into a coordinate (xi′,yi′) expressed by the formulas (9) and (10). As a result, eachrepresentative point (xi, yi) of the contour changes at the amplitude Aand time period T of the wobbling. The display region determinationsection 103 composes a contour region reflecting this change on theoriginal picture. The contour region of the picture displayed by thedisplay unit changes at the amplitude A and the time period T.

Consequently, the comparison and contrast of the picture in the contourregion and the original picture can be easily made, thus facilitatingcomparing and determining the shape at high accuracy.

The method of realizing the present invention by means of software usinga calculator will be roughly mentioned. In the software processing,coordinates of representative points on the contours are calculated inaccordance with formulas (11) and (12) every time the time period tpasses by a predetermined interval Δt. From the calculated coordinates,a contour region is generated by the approximation of a line or curve.After the original picture data is re-drawn on the display, the obtainedcontour region is re-drawn. By making such a program and executing theprogram using the calculator, the present invention can be realized.

In this embodiment, it is possible to automatically generate α contourregion unlike the embodiment FIG. 23. Since the displayed contour regionis moved periodically, both the vicinity of the contour within thepicture and the extracted contour region can be observed whiledispensing with user's trouble. It is more effective if a transparentcontour region is provided by an after-image effect by reducing the timeperiod T of wobbling.

In the embodiment of FIG. 31, a picture processing apparatus comprises apicture input section 101, a contour extraction section 102, a displaypicture generation section 104 and a picture display section 105.

The picture input section 101 and the contour extraction section 102 arethe same as those shown in the embodiment of FIG. 18. According to thesystem of this embodiment, the display picture generation section 104replaces a pixel value of a portion of the original picturecorresponding to the contour region extracted by the contour extractionsection 102, with a predetermined pixel value.

According to the system having such a structure, a contour region (orcontour lines) is obtained in accordance with the same procedures asthose in the embodiment of FIG. 18. The display picture generationsection 104 replaces a portion of the original picture corresponding tothe contour region extracted by the contour extraction section 102, witha predetermined pixel value and thereby generates a display picture.

Meanwhile, the picture display section 105 controls the original pictureand the picture generated by the display picture generation section 104such that they are alternately displayed at predetermined timeintervals. By so doing, the picture generated by the display picturegeneration section 104 and the original picture are alternatelydisplayed on the display unit by the picture display section 105.

In this way, according to this system, the display picture generationsection 104 generates a picture obtained by replacing a portion of theoriginal picture corresponding to the contour region, with apredetermined pixel value, and the original picture as well as thepicture generated by the display picture generation section 104 arealternately displayed on the display unit.

Due to this, there exists a time period in which a contour region is notdrawn. As a result, the original picture information can be grasped moreprecisely and both the vicinity of the contour within the picture andthe extracted contour region can be observed while dispensing with theuser's trouble. Thus, operability is improved. Besides, if thepredetermined time interval t is reduced, then a transparent contourregion can be provided by an after-image effect and effectiveobservation can be advantageously realized.

The display switching in this embodiment can be realized by softwareprocessing using a calculator. The method will be now described.

The display switching by means of software processing is conducted asfollows. If a predetermined time interval is Δt and time t is 2nΔt(where n is an integer), original picture data is re-drawn on thedisplay. On the other hand, if time t is (2n+1)Δt, original picture datais re-drawn on the display and then the contour region previouslyobtained is re-drawn. By so doing, the picture generated by the displaypicture generation section 104 and the original picture can bealternately displayed.

The method shown in FIG. 31, different from the embodiment FIG. 23, cangrasp original picture information more precisely since there exists atime period in which a contour region is not drawn. Besides, withouttroubling the user, the vicinity of the contour within the picture andthe extracted contour region can be observed. Furthermore, if thepredetermined time interval t is reduced, a transparent contour regioncan be advantageously provided by an after-image effect.

In the embodiment of FIG. 31, the picture processing apparatus comprisesa picture input section 101, the contour extraction section 102, thedisplay picture generation section 104 and the picture display section105.

The picture input section 101, the contour extraction section 102 andthe display picture generation section 104 are the same as those in theembodiment of FIG. 30.

According to the system of the present invention, the picture displaysection 105 controls the original picture and the picture generated bythe display picture generation section 104 such that they arealternately displayed. However, the picture generated by the displaypicture generation section 104 is displayed only when a command ismanually given at the operation input section 113. For that reason, abutton (display button) is provided at the operation input section 113for the designation operation.

According to the system, while the display button on the operation inputsection 113 is being pushed, only the original picture obtained from thepicture input section 101 is displayed. When the display button isreleased, only the generated picture of the picture display section 105is displayed. Conversely, it is possible to display the generatedpicture of the picture display section 105 while the button is beingpushed and the original picture is displayed when the button isreleased. It is also possible to change the display picture from “thegenerated picture of the picture display section 105” to “the originalpicture” to “the generated picture of the picture display section 105”to “the original picture” in this order every time the button is pushed.Further, operation means other than the button such as a slide bar, adial, a mouse and the like may be used.

In this embodiment, different from the embodiment of FIG. 30, the timingfor switching between the display and non-display of the contour regionis freely determined. Since the switching can be thus freely made, it ispossible to display a picture more conformable to the user's demand.

The sixth embodiment according to the present invention will bedescribed.

The sixth embodiment is the modification of the embodiment of FIG. 30.The picture input section 101, the contour extraction section 102 andthe picture display section 105 are the same as in FIG. 18. The displaypicture generation section 104 generates a picture by converting thepixel value of a portion of the original picture corresponding to thecontour region extracted by the contour extraction section 102 inaccordance with the following conversion processing. Specifically, ifthe brightness of the original picture is (I, I, I) in RGB colorrepresentation and the new brightness is (I, I, 0) in RGB colorrepresentation, the conversion is conducted as follows:

-   -   R=I    -   G=I    -   B=0        That is, the original picture is a color picture, and an R (red)        component, a G (green) component and a B (blue) component of the        original picture has the same brightness value which is I and        colorless (either white or gray depending on the value of I). By        the conversion processing, the R component and the G component        are converted into “I” and the B component is converted into        “0”. As a result of the conversion processing, the monochrome        pixel having the R component, G component and B component which        are all I is converted into that having only the R component and        the G component which are yellow. Therefore, after the above        processing, the color of the contour region is changed to        yellow. The brightness of the contour region is proportional to        that of the original picture (that is, the brightness of the        contour region having “I” is proportional to that of the        original picture). Therefore, it is possible to obtain the        original picture information even in the contour region. In        addition, since information about the contour extraction result        can be also obtained due to a change in color, it is possible to        easily evaluate the contour extraction result.

In this embodiment, yellow is used as a color for representing thecontour region. However, other colors may be used. As long as thebrightness within the contour region can be kept, other conversionmethods may be used. In this embodiment, the B component is fixed to 0(B=0). However, it may be changed between “0” and “I” as time passes. Inthat case, the change can be obtained by wobbling both periodically andmanually. If so, the change can give a visual impression more strongly,thereby facilitating the recognition of the contour region.

As described so far, the present invention extracts the contour of atarget within a picture, divides the extracted contour into a displayportion and a non-display portion and displays the target picture andthe display portion within the contour by superimposing the displayportion over the target picture. In addition, the present inventionextracts the contour of the target within the picture, displays theextracted contour region by superimposing the contour region over thetarget picture within the picture and displays the contour while scalingit. Furthermore, the present invention changes the color of the contourwhen displaying it and can switch the display picture between thepicture, over which the contour is superimposed, and the originalpicture. Therefore, the contour picture and the original picture can beeasily compared, thereby facilitating the comparison and determinationof the shape at accuracy.

As a result, it is possible to apply the present invention to theevaluation of the accuracy of the contour extraction result and theanalysis of the state of the movement of a moving target using thecontour lines of the picture.

The method described in the embodiment with reference to the drawingscan be realized as software. The program by using the software can bestored in a storage medium, which can be read by a computer, such as amagnetic disc (a floppy disc, a hard disc), an optical disc (a CD-ROM, aDVD) and a semiconductor memory and can be distributed widely.

According to the embodiments of the present invention described above,it is possible to provide a picture processing apparatus and a pictureprocessing method having an excellent advantage in that thedetermination of whether or not the extracted contour is correct can beeasily made, which the conventional apparatus and method cannot make,and in that it is possible to apply the present apparatus and method tothe analysis of the state of the movement of a moving target by usingthe contour of the picture of the target since the correct contour canbe obtained.

Now, description will be given to various embodiments of a pictureprocessing apparatus and a picture processing method capable ofautomatically obtaining, for example, a terminal diastole area or volumeand a terminal systole area or volume of an ultrasonic picture.

FIG. 33 shows the structure of the ultrasonic picture processingapparatus. FIG. 34 shows the processing flow of a method for detectingpicture collecting conditions of an ultrasonic picture.

A moving picture input section 201 inputs the moving picture of theheart of a subject by means of ultrasonic waves, X rays, magneticresonance or the like. A target contour extraction section 202 extractsthe contour of the heart from the heart moving picture for every picture(every frame). A contour internal area calculation section 203calculates the area inside the extracted contour of the heart. Amaximum/minimum area calculation/storage section 204 detects themaximum/minim areas among the calculated internal areas of the contourof the heart and stores the detected values while associating them withthe pictures corresponding to the values, respectively.

According to the apparatus in this embodiment having this structure,moving pictures of the heart of the subject are inputted by the movingpicture input section 201. This is done by obtaining moving pictures ofthe heart of the subject obtained by, for example, the ultrasonicdiagnosis apparatus and using the obtained pictures as inputs.

More specifically, the moving picture input section 201 inputs movingpictures of the heart obtained in a time-series manner from, forexample, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus (S201). The target contourextraction section 202 extracts the contour of the target (cardiac wall)from each of the inputted moving pictures (S202). The extraction of thecontour of the cardiac wall can be conducted automatically and easily bymeans of, for example, the method using active contour models andballoons: “On Active Contour Models and Balloons (Laurent D. Cohen,CVGIP: IU, 53(2): 211-218, 1991). FIG. 34 shows the typical example ofan extracted contour by that method. By conducting processing in stepS202, contour information can be obtained for every picture as shown inFIG. 34.

Thereafter, processing is conducted by the contour internal areacalculating section 203. The contour internal area calculation section203 calculates the internal area of each of the contours based on therespective contour information extracted by the target contourextraction section 202 (S203). The maximum/minimum areacalculation/storage section 204 detects and stores maximum/minimumvalues of the internal area of the contour of each picture obtained bythe contour internal area calculation section 203 (S204).

Contours are extracted from the time-series ultrasonic pictures showingthe sectional views of the heart and internal areas of the contours arecalculated using the extracted contour information, thereby obtainingthe maximum and minimum areas.

The detailed method for obtaining the maximum and minimum internal areasof the contours will be now described.

FIG. 35 shows the example of the processing flow of the step S204conducted by the maximum/minimum value detection/storage section 204shown in FIG. 33 in more detail. In the step S204, the calculated valueof the internal area of the contour obtained in step S203 is inputted(S208). It is determined whether it is a value is for the first picture(S209). If it is determined as first picture value, the inputted area istemporarily stored in maximum/minimum memories (S210).

Next, the stored value is compared with a value (a retained maximumvalue) stored in the maximum memory (S211). If the value temporarilystored in the maximum/minimum memories S210 is larger than the retainedmaximum value (S212), the maximum value is updated to the temporarilystored value in the maximum memory (S213).

Meanwhile, as a result of the determination in step S212, if the valuetemporarily stored in the maximum/minimum memories is not larger thanthe retained maximum value, the maximum value is not updated and thetemporarily stored value is compared with a value (a retained minimumvalue) stored in the minimum memory (S214). If the value temporarilystored in the maximum/minimum memories in step S210 is smaller than theretained minimum value (S215), the minimum value in the minimum memoryis updated to the temporarily stored value (S216). As a result of thedetermination in step S215, if the temporarily stored value is notsmaller than the retained minimum value, the minimum value is notupdated and the processing enters step S217.

In the step S217, it is determined whether or not the processing ofinput pictures for a predetermined time period is finished. If theprocessing for the predetermined time period is finished, a maximummemory value and a minimum memory value are stored as a terminaldiastole area and a terminal systole area, while associating them witheach other, respectively (S218).

The data can be stored in the memory by arranging in a form of (terminaldiastole area value, the time phase thereof), (terminal systole areavalue, the time phase thereof) and the like. It is also possible tosimultaneously store the electrocardiogram information about thecorresponding time phases. These arranged values may be outputted to anoutput unit such as a printer instead of storing them in the memory orwhile doing so.

In this embodiment, contours of the heart are extracted based on themoving pictures of the real-time ultrasonic sectional image of the heartfor every picture plane. The internal area of each of the contours isobtained and it is determined whether the area is the maximum or minimumvalue. The maximum and minimum value are updated and retained for apredetermined time period. Due to this, it is possible to detect themaximum and minimum sectional areas of the heart shown on the inputtedpictures for a predetermined time period. If the predetermined timeperiod is in line with the moving period of the heart, the terminalsystole and the terminal diastole of the heart can be graspedautomatically.

For the purpose of discovering the terminal heart systole period and theterminal heart diastole period, the following area measurement method istaken.

FIG. 36 shows an embodiment of a picture processing apparatus. FIG. 37shows the processing flow of the picture processing apparatus.

In FIG. 36, the picture processing apparatus comprises a contourinternal point selection section 221, a measurement straight line groupsetting section 222, a pixel number measurement section 223 and anaddition section 224.

The contour internal point selection section 221 selects a requiredpoint inside the detected contour E. The measurement straight line groupsetting section 222 sets a measured group of straight lines providedradially around the required point. The pixel number measurement section223 measures the number of passed pixels p for every straight line bythe straight line set by the measurement straight line group settingsection 222 crosses the contour. The addition section 224 obtains thecross-sectional area of the heart by adding the number of pixels pmeasured by the pixel number measurement section 223.

In such a structure, a point C is selected inside the detected contour E(S221). This is conducted by the contour internal point selectionsection 221. The internal point C of the contour E may be, for example,a point of the center of gravity having a coordinate (x, y) representedby the averages of all X and Y coordinates on the contour E,respectively.

When the point C is selected, the measurement straight line groupsetting section 222 sets a measured group of straight lines arrangedradially around the point of the center of gravity, that is, point C(S222). The pixel number measurement section 223 measures the number ofpassed pixels p for every straight line by the straight line crosses thecontour (S223). At this time, the measured pixels are stored so as notto measure them a plurality of times. The addition section 224 adds thenumber of pixels p measured by the pixel number measurement section 223and obtains the cross-sectional area of the heart.

FIG. 38 typically shows how the processing is going on. The contour E ofthe heart has an almost convex, smooth shape. Therefore, ifto-be-measured straight lines are set densely enough, the cross-sectionarea of the heart can be accurately calculated by the method of thisembodiment.

Another method for obtaining the cross-sectional area of the heart willbe described with reference to FIGS. 39 and 40. A picture processingapparatus shown in FIG. 39 comprises a contour division section 231, anarea calculation section 232 and an addition section 233. The contourdivision section 231 measures the length of a given contour E, dividesthe length at predetermined intervals and obtains each division pointrepresented as Pt. The area calculation section 232 uses the internalpoint C of the contour E obtained by the contour internal pointselection section 221 in the embodiment of FIG. 37, creates a triangleby connecting the point C, a representative point Pt and its adjacentrepresentative points Pt for every point Pt and calculates the area ofeach triangle. The point C may be, for example, the point of the centerof gravity having a coordinate (x, y) represented by averages of all ofthe X and Y coordinates on the contour E.

The addition section 233 adds areas of the respective triangles obtainedby the area calculation section 232 and thereby calculates the internalarea of the contour.

In the apparatus of this embodiment having such a structure, the contourdivision section 231 measures the length of the contour E extracted bythe contour extraction section, divides the length at predeterminedintervals and set respective division points Pt as representative points(S231). After obtaining the respective points Pt, processing enters anarea calculation step. This step is conducted by the area calculationsection 232.

The area calculation section 232 creates a triangle by connecting thepoint C0 which is the point of the center of gravity, a representativepoint Pt and its adjacent representative point Pt for every point Pt(refer to FIG. 41) and calculates the area of the triangle (S232). Thepoint C0 of the center of gravity has a coordinate (x, y) obtained byaveraging all of the X and Y coordinate points on the contour,respectively.

Finally, the addition section 233 adds areas of all of the triangles andthereby calculates the internal area of the contour (S233).

As can be seen from the above, the area can be calculated by means ofthe polygon approximation.

The above-described methods are intended for discovering the heartterminal systole period and the heart terminal diastole period byobtaining the area of the cross-sectional heart image. However, it ispossible to grasp the heart terminal systole period and the heartterminal diastole period by obtaining not only the area but also thevolume as follows.

The description will now be given to methods for grasping the heartterminal systole period and the heart terminal diastole period by usingthe volume of the heart.

An embodiment for obtaining the volume of the heart from thecross-sectional heart image will be described with reference to FIGS. 42through 44. This embodiment adopts a method for obtaining the heartterminal systole period and the heart terminal diastole period from thevolume of the heart.

As shown in FIG. 42, a picture processing apparatus comprises a pictureinput section 241, a target contour extraction section 242, a contourinternal volume calculation section 243 and a maximum/minimum volumedetection/storage section 244. The picture input section 241 inputsmoving pictures of the heart of a subject. The target contour extractionsection 242 extracts contours of the target heart from the movingpictures (frames) of the heart, respectively.

The contour internal volume calculation section 243 calculates internalvolumes of the contours of the heart from the extracted contours of theheart. The maximum/minimum volume detection/storage section 244 detectsa maximum volume and a minimum volume of the internal volumes of thecontour obtained for respective pictures (respective frames) and storesthe values while associating them with the corresponding pictures.

According to the method for obtaining the heart terminal systole periodand the heart terminal diastole period from the volumes of the heartadopted in the embodiment of FIG. 42, a moving picture of the heart isfirst inputted from the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus (S241). Thetarget contour extraction section 242 then extracts the contour E of thetarget (cardiac wall) from the inputted moving picture (S242). Thecontour is extracted for every picture (every frame).

When the contour for every picture (every frame) is extracted, thecontour internal volume calculation section 242 calculates the internalvolume of the contour for the extracted contour (S243). The volume canbe calculated by, for example, obtaining the central axis of the contourE, dividing the central axis into a plurality of segments each having apredetermined distance d, obtaining the volume of a circular cylinderhaving a diameter ri taken from one intersection between a segmentpassing one of the division points and perpendicular to the central axisand the contour E to another intersection therebetween and obtaining thesum of the obtained volumes of the cylinders.

Finally, the maximum/minimum volume detection/storage section 244detects a maximum volume and a minimum volume in the same manner asshown in FIG. 43 and stores the values while associating them with thecorresponding pictures (frames), respectively.

By using the volume measurement method, it is possible to grasp theheart terminal systole period and the heart terminal diastole periodautomatically.

There is a method for calculating the movement amounts between contoursand obtaining a minimum value from the calculated movement values whiletaking it into consideration that the contour movement amount is aminimum in the terminal systole period and the terminal diastole period,and for specifying as a terminal diastole area/volume, the largerarea/volume in the time phases and as a terminal systole area/volume,the smaller area/volume in the time phases. An embodiment using thismethod will be described hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 34, a picture processing apparatus in this embodimentcomprises a moving picture input section 251, a target contourextraction section 252, a contour internal area/volume calculationsection 253, a contour movement amount calculation section 254, aminimum movement amount detection section 255 and a storage 256.

The moving picture input section 251 inputs moving pictures of the heartof a subject. The target contour extraction section 252 extracts thecontour of the heart from every inputted moving picture (every frame) ofthe heart.

The contour moving amount calculation section 254 calculates the movingamount of the contours extracted by the target contour extractionsection 252. The minimum movement amount detection section 255 obtains aminimum value and maximum value from the contour movement amountsobtained by the contour movement amount calculation section 254. Thecalculation section 253 calculates internal areas/volumes of thecontours extracted by the target contour extraction section 252,respectively.

Among those areas/volumes, the larger area/volume and the smallerarea/volume are stored as the terminal diastole period area/volume andthe terminal systole area/volume, respectively while associating themwith corresponding pictures. That is, a picture showing a largerarea/volume in a certain time period (i.e., a picture showing a maximumarea/volume in a time period among the time series pictures (frames) anda picture showing a smaller area/volume in a certain time period) arestored while associating these pictures with the corresponding values,respectively. The storage 256 stores and retains them.

In the apparatus having the above structure, moving pictures of theheart obtained from the moving picture input section 251 by, forexample, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus are first inputted (S251).The target contour extraction section 252 extracts contours E of atarget (cardiac wall) from the inputted time series moving pictures(S252), respectively.

The calculation section 253 calculates the internal areas/volumes of thecontours based on the extracted contours E, respectively (S253). At thesame time, the contour movement amount calculation section 254calculates contours moving amounts based on the extracted contours E(S254).

Using the fact that the movement amount becomes a minimum in theterminal expansion period and the terminal systole period, the minimummoving amount detection section 255 obtains a minimum value from themoving amounts calculated by the contour moving amount calculationsection 254 (S255). The larger area/volume and the smaller area/volumein the above time phases are defined as a terminal diastole area/volumeand a terminal systole area/volume, respectively and stored in thestorage 256 while associating the values with the corresponding pictures(256).

As described above, by using that the contour moving amount becomes aminimum in the terminal diastole period and the terminal systole period,contour moving amounts are calculated and a minimum value is obtainedfrom the calculated moving amounts. The larger area/volume and thesmaller area/volume in those time phases are specified as a terminaldiastole area/volume and a terminal systole area/volume, respectively.The heart terminal diastole period and the heart terminal systole periodcan be thereby discovered automatically.

Another embodiment for grasping the heart terminal diastole period andthe heart terminal systole period will be described with reference toFIGS. 47 and 48.

This embodiment adopts a method for discovering a terminal systoleperiod and a terminal diastole period of the heart from the differencein the internal areas of the respective heart contours by time-seriesarranging the contours obtained from the moving pictures of the heart,and for simultaneously obtaining the average movement amounts.

The structure of this embodiment comprises a contour internal areacalculation section 261, a difference calculation section 262, a contourlength measurement section 263 and a division section 264.

The contour internal area calculation section 261 calculates internalareas of contours from the contours of a target extracted from thetarget contour extraction section 252. The difference calculationsection 262 arranges pictures in a time series manner and sequentiallysubtraction-processes the contour internal areas of the pictures,thereby obtaining time differences in areas as a result of thesubtraction-processing conducted for continuous time periods. Thecontour length measurement section 263 counts the number of pixels onthe contours and thereby measures contour lengths. The division section264 divides time differences of area by the contour lengths and therebyobtains an average movement amount.

To obtain the average movement amount of the heart, according to thisembodiment, contours E of ultrasonic cross-sectional images of the heartinputted as moving pictures are extracted and internal areas of thecontours E are obtained, respectively (S261). The contour internal areacalculation processing is conducted by the contour internal areacalculation section 261. The pictures are arranged in a time seriesmanner and the internal areas of the contours E aresubtraction-processed in the generation order, to thereby obtain timedifferences of area as a result of the subtraction-processing conductedfor continues time periods (S262). This processing is conducted by thedifference calculation section 262.

Next, the contour length measurement section 263 measures contourlengths by counting the number of pixels on the contours E (S263).Finally, the division section 264 obtains an average moving amount bydividing time differences of areas by the contour lengths (S264).

As can be understood from the above description, it is possible todiscover the terminal systole period and the terminal diastole period ofthe heart by arranging heart contours obtained from heart movingpictures in a time series manner and calculating differences in theinternal areas of the heart contours. It is also possible to obtainuseful diagnosis information including the heart movement amounts byobtaining an average heart moving amount. It should be emphasized thatthey can be realized automatically.

Now, referring to FIGS. 49 and 50, description will be given to anembodiment for obtaining the moving amount of the heart by adopting amethod for obtaining characteristic points on contours, for estimatingmovements of the respective characteristic points and thereby forobtaining an average movement amount.

As shown in FIG. 49, the picture processing apparatus in this embodimentcomprises a characteristic point detection section 271, a moving vectordetection section 272 and a moving amount calculation section 273. Thecharacteristic point detection section 271 obtains characteristic pointson contours E extracted by the target contour extraction section 252,respectively. The moving vector detection section 272 correlates andcollates a region in the vicinity of the obtained characteristic pointand a picture in a time phase following the time phase of the formerpicture and detects the movement of the difference in coordinate betweena point having the largest correlation value and an originalcharacteristic point as a moving vector. The moving amount calculationsection 273 obtains an average moving amount from moving vectors ofrespective characteristic points by statistic processing.

The apparatus in this embodiment having such a structure extractscontours E of cross-sectional images of the heart inputted as movingpictures and obtains characteristic points of the contours E,respectively.

To be more specific, the characteristic point detection section 271obtains characteristic points based on the contours E of thecross-sectional images of the heart to obtain movement amounts (S271).These characteristic points may be selected by, for example, obtaining apoint having a large curvature change on a contour E as a characteristicpoint. Alternatively, a variance of adjacent points on a contour E isobtained and a point having a value not less than a predetermined valuemay be selected as a characteristic point. Furthermore, by dividing acontour E into a plurality of parts at predetermined intervals, acharacteristic point may be selected.

Processing by the moving vector detection section 272 then starts. Themoving vector detection section 272 estimates movements ofcharacteristic points on contours E.

In this embodiment, the evaluation is made as follows. A region in thevicinity of a characteristic point and a picture in the following timephase are correlated and collated and detects a difference in coordinatebetween a point having the largest correlation value and an originalcharacteristic point as a moving vector (S272).

Processing by the moving amount calculation section 273 then starts. Themoving amount calculation section 273 obtains an average moving amountfrom moving vectors of respective characteristic points by statisticprocessing (S273). In this embodiment, the averages of x components andy components of the respective moving vectors are obtained and themagnitudes are calculated, whereby an average moving amount is obtained.

In short, the present invention is characterized in that contours of atarget are extracted from moving pictures obtained by, for example, anultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, that internal areas of the extractedcontours are calculated and that maximum and minimum areas are detectedas a terminal diastole area and a terminal systole area, respectively.

Moreover, the picture processing method according to the presentinvention is characterized in that contours of the target are extractedfrom moving pictures obtained by, for example, the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus, that contour internal volumes are calculated using theextracted contours, and that the maximum and minimum values are obtainedand detected as a terminal diastole volume and a terminal systolevolume, respectively.

In addition, the picture processing method according to the presentinvention is characterized in that contours of a target are extractedfrom moving pictures obtained by, for example, the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus, that areas or volumes showing the smallest moving amount areobtained from moving amounts on a time-by-time basis by using thoseextracted contours and that the maximum area/volume and the minimumarea/volume out of the obtained areas/volumes are detected as a terminaldiastole area/volume and a terminal systole area/volume, respectively.

According to the present invention, areas or volumes are calculated fromcross-sectional heart images obtained as moving pictures based oninformation about the extracted heart contours. The calculatedareas/volumes are compared in a time series manner. As a result, it ispossible to properly determine the terminal diastole period and theterminal systole period of the heart.

According to the present invention, concrete areas or volumes of theheart are obtained and, based on these obtained values, the terminaldiastole period and the terminal systole period of the heart can beproperly determined. This makes it possible to obtain objectivemeasurement information useful to the diagnosis of the subject's heartfunction. Besides, since the information can be obtained automatically,the burden on the operator can be reduced.

It is noted that the present invention should not be limited to theabove-described embodiments. Various modifications are possible.Furthermore, not only ultrasonic pictures but also cross-sectionalpictures of CT scan or MRI as well as X-ray television pictures can beused in the present invention. It may be possible to use the presentinvention in fields other than the medical field.

Since the present invention utilizes moving pictures, pictures (or framepictures) changing moving states in accordance with heartbeats can beinputted in a time series manner. Heart contours of those pictures inrespective time phases are extracted and processed. However, it is notnecessary to use all of the frame pictures. Instead, among the timeseries pictures (or frame pictures), some of the pictures which reflectmoving states in a systole period and an diastole period may be selectedand processed. Therefore, various modifications are possible dependingon the circumstances.

The methods described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 33, 35,37, 40, 43, 46, 48 and 50 can be stored in a storage medium including amagnetic disc (such as a floppy disc and a hard disc) and an opticaldisc (such as a CD-ROM and a DVD) as programs which can be executed by acomputer and distributed widely.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible toautomatically obtain either areas or volumes or both of them in theterminal diastole period and the terminal systole period of the heartfor the measurement of the pumping function which is important to thediagnosis of a disease, by using moving pictures obtained by, forexample, an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus. Therefore, ifcross-sectional heart images are inputted as moving pictures, forexample, then the terminal diastole period and the terminal systoleperiod of the heart can be accurately determined from concrete values ofthe obtained areas and/or volumes based on the cross-sectional heartimages, and the heart pumping function can be quantitatively obtained.Thus, the present invention can advantageously facilitate usingobjective measurement information which is useful to the diagnosis ofthe subject's heart function.

Now, description will be given to a heart function analysis supportapparatus and method for accurately associating the cardiac wallcontours and facilitating the evaluation of local movement states of thecardiac wall so that the display of information calculated from thecontour information which can be easily evaluated is realized.

A heart function analysis apparatus shown in FIG. 51 comprises a cardiacwall contour input section 301 for inputting cardiac wall contourinformation, a characteristic point detection section 302 for detectingor inputting characteristic points on contours such as a cardiac apexand an annulus valva from the hear wall contours, a contour divisionsection 303 for dividing the cardiac wall contours based on thecharacteristic points, a division point association section 304 forassociating division points of moving pictures in a plurality of timephases, a display section 305 for classifying the divided cardiac wallcontours into regions useful for diagnosis and for displaying thedivided contours by means of at least one of numerical display, graphdisplay, color display of the cardiac wall and a memory for storingcontour information or division point information.

In the present apparatus having the above structure, the cardiac wallcontour input section 301 inputs cardiac wall contour information. Timeseries cross-sectional images of the subject's heart are obtained from,for example, the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus. Contours of the heartare extracted based on the obtained images. The extracted contours areused as the cardiac wall contour information. The cardiac wall contourinformation is stored in the memory 6. The cardiac wall contourinformation is fed to the characteristic point detection section 302.

When the cardiac wall contour information is inputted, thecharacteristic point detection section 302 detects characteristic pointson contours such as a cardiac apex and an annulus valva from the cardiacwall contours based on the cardiac wall contour information. This can beautomatically calculated by using the curvature of contours based on theshapes of the cardiac wall contours (automatic detection processing). Itis also possible to manually input characteristic points using, forexample, a mouse (manual input operation).

The contour division section 303 divides the cardiac wall contours basedon the characteristic points obtained by the characteristic pointdetection section 302. The division information obtained by the divisionprocessing is stored in the memory 6. When the cardiac wall contours aredivided, the division point association section 304 associates thedivision points on the contours of pictures in a plurality of timephases. The display section 305 classifies the divided cardiac wallcontours into regions useful for diagnosis and displays them by means ofat least one of numerical display, graph display and color display ofthe cardiac wall.

The detailed processing of the heart function analysis apparatus havingthe above structure will be described with reference to the flowchart ofFIG. 52.

First, cardiac wall contour information is inputted from the cardiacwall contour input section 301. The cardiac wall contours may beinputted manually using, for example, a mouse on pictures or may becontour information obtained as a result of picture processing and thelike (FIG. 53 and step A1 of FIG. 52).

Next, characteristic points on the cardiac wall contours are detected bythe characteristic point detection section 302. The characteristic pointmay be inputted manually using, for example, a mouse or calculatedautomatically using information about the curvature of contours based onthe shapes of the cardiac wall contours (FIG. 54 and step A2 of FIG.52).

The inputted cardiac wall contours are then divided based on thedetected characteristic points (processing conducted in the contourdivision section 303).

The division of the cardiac wall contours is conducted by the followingmethod.

This embodiment illustrates a method for dividing cardiac wall contourswhile a point of a cardiac apex and an annulus valva 302 are used ascharacteristic points.

As shown in FIG. 55, a portion from a right annulus valva to a cardiacapex is divided into n parts and a portion from the cardiac apex to aright annulus valva is divided into m parts. Division points 322 areallotted with particular numbers, respectively and stored (Step A3 ofFIG. 52). The division numbers m and n can be appropriately set inaccordance with the density for analyzing the movement of the cardiacwall.

The above-described processing steps are conducted for contour data inall time phases (Step A4 of FIG. 52). The division of the cardiac wallcontours is finished.

When the cardiac wall contours are divided, division points forrespective time phases are associated. More specifically, divisionpoints having the same number are associated with one another (Step A5of FIG. 52). This step is conducted by the division point associationsection 304.

As described above, according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 51 and52, the cardiac apex and the annulus valva of the heart having shapes ofdefinite characters are used as characteristic points. Due to this,positions of cardiac apex and the annulus valva can be accuratelyassociated. Furthermore, according to the embodiments thereof, thecardiac wall contours are divided based on the cardiac apex and theannulus valva. Due to this, as shown in FIG. 56, association of the wallcontours in two time periods can be made more appropriately than that bythe center line method.

The results of the association of division points, if finished, aredisplayed (Step A6 of FIG. 52). In this case, as shown in FIG. 57, thecardiac wall 325 is displayed. Inside the cardiac wall 325, divisionpoints from left annulus valva to the cardiac apex and those from thecardiac apex to the right annulus valva are further classified intothree parts, respectively. Contour lines (cardiac wall contours 320) aredivided by colors A, B, C, D, E and F for respective classified partsand superimposed over the cross-sectional heart pictures.

The three classified parts may be, for example, a base portion, acentral portion and a cardiac apex portion so as to be useful fordiagnosis. By classifying the cardiac wall and displaying the dividedcontour lines by coloring them for respective classified parts, it ispossible to appropriately divide the cardiac wall region and to easilyand definitely discover the position of the cardiac wall region on thepicture.

There is a different display method. A contour E1 in a certain timephase (a certain time period) as a reference time phase is pre-set withrespect to the periodic diastole and systole movement of the heart. Asshown in FIG. 58, division points on a contour E1 in the reference timeperiod and those on a contour E2 (which is one of present targetcontours and a contour in a different time phase) in a present timephase are connected to one another by straight lines L, respectively. Byso doing, it is possible to easily grasp which part of the cardiac wallregion moves to what degree with respect to the cardiac wall contour inthe reference time phase.

It is also possible to display contour division results of pictures in aplurality of continuous time phases as moving pictures. By using themoving picture display method, the movement state of the cardiac wallcan be displayed such that they can be grasped more easily. FIGS. 57 and58 show an example of displaying the contours by classifying dividedparts with different five colors of A to F. However, this is nothing butone example. It is not always necessary to display all contours withdifferent colors. As long as the division parts of the contours can berecognized, it is not required to color the contours. Different types oflines may be used for classification. Alternatively, such a displaymethod as to display at least adjacent contours with different colors soas to discriminate contours, may be adopted.

In the meantime, since a heart is ellipsoidally sphere, there are across section along a longer axis and a cross section along a shorteraxis. The above descriptions have been described while using a crosssection along a longer axis as a cross-sectional heart image. The sameprocessing is possible even if using a cross section along a shorteraxis as a cross-sectional heart image as shown in FIG. 59. In that case,accurate association can be realized by using, as a characteristicpoint, a papillary muscle which is one tissue of the heart. By usingthis, it is possible to even analyze movements which are notperpendicular to a cardiac wall contour such as a heart torsionmovement.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 51 and 52, the cardiac wall contoursare divided into a predetermined number of parts to set division pointsand the cardiac wall contours in time periods of the beating heart aredisplayed for respective division points to clarify the division parts.In the embodiment, as characteristic points serving as reference pointsto the division parts on the heart contours, the cardiac apex and theannulus valva of the heart having shapes of definite characters areused.

Next, description will be given to an embodiment wherein division pointsare set by dividing cardiac wall contours into a predetermined number ofparts, movement distances of the division points in respective timeperiods of the beating heart from the corresponding division points in areference time period are calculated and the information about movementdistances of respective division points is displayed while reflecting onthe pictures. In this case, cardiac apex and the annulus valva of theheart having shapes of definite characters are used as characteristicpoints serving as reference points to the division points on the heartcontours.

As shown in FIG. 60, the apparatus in this embodiment comprises acardiac wall contour input section 301 for inputting cardiac wallcontour information, a characteristic point detection section 302 fordetecting or inputting characteristic points on cardiac wall contourssuch as the cardiac apex and the annulus valva, a contour divisionsection 303 for dividing the cardiac wall contours based on thecharacteristic points, division point association section 304 forassociating division points of the contours from pictures in a pluralityof time phases, a display section 305 for classifying the dividedcardiac wall contours into parts useful for diagnosis and display themby means of at least one of numerical display, graph display and colordisplay of the cardiac wall, a memory 306 for storing contourinformation or division point information and a movement distancecalculation section 307 for calculating movement distances of respectivedivision points.

That is, the structure of the apparatus in this embodiment ischaracterized by comprising the movement distance calculation section307 for calculating movement distances of respective division points inaddition to the structure of the embodiment FIG. 51. A new displayfunction of reflecting movement distances of the division positions ofthe divided cardiac wall contours is also added to the display section305.

In the apparatus according to this embodiment, the inputted cardiac wallcontours in respective time phases, that is, cardiac wall contours ofrespective time series pictures are divided based on such characteristicpoints as the cardiac apex and the annulus valva and the pictures in aplurality of time phases, that is, time series pictures are associatedwith one another. These procedures are the same as described in theembodiment of FIG. 51 (in steps B1 to B5 of FIG. 61).

After dividing the cardiac wall contours, movement distances of divisionpoints in respective time phases from the corresponding division pointsin the pre-set time period are calculated, respectively (Step B6 of FIG.61). The calculation step is conducted by the movement distancecalculation section 307. Movement distances of the division points inrespective time phases from the corresponding division points in thereference time period will be obtained as follows.

Among time phases of the beating heart, an i-th time phase ishighlighted. A coordinate of the n-th division point of the cardiac wallcontour on the cross-section of the heart in the i-th time phase on thepicture is represented as(X, Y)=(Xi,n, Yi,n)  (11)If a reference time phase is the o-th time phase and a time phase forcalculating a movement distance is the j-th time phase, the movementdistance dj, n of the n-th division point is calculated asd _(j,n)={square root}{square root over ((X _(j,n) −X _(o,n))²+(Y _(j,n)−Y _(o,n))²)}  (12)

Based on the calculation formulas, movement distances are calculated.Next, in accordance with the calculated movement distances, the displaysection 305 gives the cardiac walls contours colors, superimposes thecolored contours over the cross-sectional heart picture and displaysthem (Step B7 of FIG. 14). In regard of coloring, if the color phase onthe n-th division point in the j time phase is defined as Cj,n as in thecase of the formula (3), the portion of the cardiac wall having a smallmovement distance is colored blue and that having a large movementdistance is colored red, for example. By so doing, it is possible tograsp the movement state of the cardiac wall visually, which greatlyhelps understand the movement state of the cardiac wall.Cj,n(°)=Mod(k·dj,n, 360)  (13)Here, k denotes a constant and Mod (,) denotes a reminder.

As shown in FIG. 62, movement distances for contours (division points ofcontours) are expressed on a graph (b of FIG. 62). Alternatively, acardiac wall contour is classified into a plurality of parts and thestatistic of movement distances for every classified cardiac wall partis calculated and is displayed numerically (a of FIG. 62).

By thus displaying numerical information, it is possible to obtainquantitative information. If, for example, an average value for everypart of the heart contours is calculated as statistic, the average Ej,iof the i-th cardiac wall part of the picture in the i-th time phase isexpressed as $\begin{matrix}{E_{j,i} = {\frac{1}{N}{\sum\limits_{n \in {i\quad{th}\quad{cardiac}\quad{wall}}}\quad d_{j,n}}}} & (14)\end{matrix}$where N denotes the number of division points belonging to the i-thcardiac wall part.

As shown in FIG. 63, a change in movement distances is expressed in atime series manner and a time series change may expressed on a graph.Furthermore, velocities of the cardiac wall parts can be calculated bydifferentiating movement distances based on time phases. A velocity ofthe cardiac wall part perpendicular to an ultrasonic beam cannot beobtained as a Doppler signal in the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus.However, by adopting the above method, it is possible to obtain velocityinformation of cardiac wall parts irrespectively of the direction of thebeams.

As shown in FIG. 64, a positional difference is obtained for everydivision point between the contour 321 in time phase A and the contour322 in time phase B and the differences are expressed on the picture asareas. If movement areas for the respective cardiac wall portions arecalculated based on division points and expressed, the state of systolemovement can be grasped for every cardiac wall portion. This is veryuseful as diagnosis information.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 60, the cardiac wall contours aredivided into a plurality of parts and divided parts are determined.Movement distances of divided parts in time phases of the beating heart,from corresponding divided parts in the reference time phase arecalculated, respectively. Information about the movement distances ofthe contours for divided parts is reflected on the picture anddisplayed.

Now, description will be given to an embodiment wherein Dopplerinformation is used, cardiac wall contours are divided into a pluralityof parts and velocity information based on the Doppler information forevery part is obtained and an picture is displayed by reflecting theobtained velocity information for every part of the cardiac wallcontours on the picture.

As shown in FIG. 65, the apparatus in this embodiment comprises acardiac wall contour input section 301 for inputting cardiac wallcontour information, a characteristic point detection section 302 fordetecting or inputting characteristic points on contours such as acardiac apex and an annulus valva, a contour division section 303 fordividing cardiac wall contours based on characteristic points, adivision point association section 304 for associating division pointsin different time phases with one another, a display section 305 forclassifying the divided cardiac wall contours into a plurality of partsuseful for diagnosis and displaying the parts by means of at least oneof numerical display, graph display and color display of cardiac wall, amemory 306 for storing contour information or division point informationand a velocity information input section 308 for inputting velocityinformation obtained from Doppler signals in the ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus.

To be more specific, the structure of the embodiment FIG. 65 ischaracterized by comprising the velocity information input section 308for inputting velocity information obtained from Doppler signals in theultrasonic diagnosis apparatus in addition to the elements of theapparatus in the embodiment of FIG. 51. Additionally, the displaysection 305 is provided with a function of classifying velocityinformation about tissues obtained from Doppler signals for everycardiac wall part using division points of the divided cardiac wallcontours and displaying the velocity information on the division points,respectively.

The processing by the apparatus in FIG. 65 will be described withreference to the flowchart of FIG. 66. The apparatus divides cardiacwall contours in respective inputted time phases based on characteristicpoints such as a cardiac apex and an annulus valva (in steps C1 to C3 ofFIG. 66). This processing steps are the same as those in the firstembodiment. In this embodiment, information obtained from Dopplersignals is inputted (Step C4 of FIG. 66). That is, by using theultrasonic diagnosis apparatus having a Doppler signal measurementfunction, Doppler signals of the heart are obtained. The velocityinformation input section 308 obtains velocity information from theDoppler signals and inputs the velocity information.

Thereafter, using division points of the divided cardiac wall contours,velocity information about tissues obtained from Doppler signals isclassified for every cardiac wall part and displayed on respectivedivision points (Step C5 of FIG. 66). The step is conducted by thedisplay section 305.

The detailed displayed contents are as follows. By way of example,description will be given to a case of classifying a part from a leftannulus valva to a cardiac apex and a part from the cardiac apex to aright annulus valva into three parts, respectively.

First, a plurality of division points are provided on cardiac wallcontours. Using the division points, the cardiac wall contours areclassified into a plurality of parts each having a required distance.For example, a part from the left annulus valva to the cardiac apex of acardiac wall contour and a part from the cardiac apex to a right annulusvalva are classified into three regions; i.e. a base, a central portion,a cardiac apex portion in the division order, respectively.

Next, velocity information on the respective division points is addedfor every classified region and an average is calculated. If thevelocity on the n-th division point is Dopplern, the average Ei forevery cardiac wall part is calculated by formula (5) as follows:$\begin{matrix}{M_{i} = {\frac{1}{N}{\sum\limits_{n \in {i\quad{th}\quad{cardiac}\quad{wall}}}\quad{Doppler}_{n}}}} & (15)\end{matrix}$

The calculated averages in the respective regions are displayed by meansof graph display, numerical display or color display of the cardiac wallportions as in the case of the second embodiment (see FIG. 67).

As described above, the cardiac apex and the annulus valva having shapesof definite characters are used as characteristic points serving asreference points for dividing the cardiac wall. Based on thesecharacteristic points, the cardiac wall contours are classified into aplurality of parts and velocity information based on Doppler informationis obtained for every classified part, thereby displaying an picturereflecting the obtained velocity information for every cardiac wallcontour part. As a result, velocity information about the cardiac wallis displayed for every appropriately classified cardiac wall part. Thus,it is possible to display information useful for the analysis of thecardiac function and to greatly contribute to the diagnosis of thecardiac function.

In the meantime, in the display method based on velocity information,there are cases where differences in the velocities of the cardiac wallparts cannot be observed very clearly if the differences are small, andanalysis is therefore difficult to make. In considering this,description will be now given to another embodiment.

In this embodiment, cardiac wall contours are divided into a pluralityof parts, velocity information based on Doppler information is obtainedfor every part, a dynamic range of the obtained velocity information isobtained to thereby change colors within the dynamic range. By so doing,if a picture reflecting every cardiac wall contour part is displayed,colors are allotted in accordance with the dynamic range of velocities.As a result, even if differences in velocities of divided parts aresmall, they can be clearly observed.

As shown in FIG. 68, the apparatus in this embodiment comprises acardiac wall contour input section 301 for inputting cardiac wallcontour information, a characteristic point detection section 302 fordetecting or inputting characteristic points on contours such as acardiac apex and an annulus valva, a contour division section 303 fordividing cardiac wall contours based on the characteristic points, adivision point association section 304 for associating division pointsin a plurality of time phases, a display section 305 for classifying thedivided cardiac wall contours into a plurality of parts useful fordiagnosis and for displaying them by means of at least one of numericaldisplay, graph display and color display of the cardiac wall, a memory306 for storing contour information or division point information, avelocity information input section 308 for inputting velocityinformation from Doppler signals in the ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus,a dynamic range detection section 309 for detecting a dynamic range anda display color allotment section 310 for allotting display colors.

That is, the structure of the embodiment in FIG. 65 is characterized bycomprising the dynamic range detection section 309 and the display colorallotment section 310.

The processing by the apparatus of FIG. 68 will be described withreference to the flowchart of FIG. 69.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, inputted cardiac wall contours inrespective time phases are divided into a plurality of parts based oncharacteristic points such as a cardiac apex and an annulus valva andthe divided parts of pictures in a plurality of time phases areassociated with one another (in steps D1 to D5 of FIG. 69). Theprocessing steps are the same as those in the embodiment of FIG. 51.

After dividing the cardiac wall contours, movement distances of dividedparts from the corresponding divided parts in the reference time phaseare calculated, respectively, which processing steps are also the sameas those in the embodiment of FIG. 51 (Step D6 of FIG. 68).

Next, velocity information obtained from Doppler signals is inputted(Step D7 of FIG. 68). The input step is conducted by, for example,obtaining Doppler signals of the heart using an ultrasonic diagnosisapparatus having a Doppler signal measurement function, obtainingvelocity information at the velocity information input section 308 andinputting the velocity information.

Thereafter, the dynamic range detection section 309 detects dynamicranges of movement distances of respective division points (Step D8 ofFIG. 69). This is done by, for example, calculating differential valuesD′j,n of movement distances of respective division points in a pluralityof time phases or one time phase and detecting a maximum value Vmax anda minimum value Vmin from the calculated differential values D′j,n asfollows:Vmax=max(D′ j,n)  (16)Vmin=min(D′ j,n)  (17).

After completing the processing at the dynamic range detection section309, display colors are allotted to the Vmin and Vmax (Step D9 of FIG.69). The display colors are allotted by formula (18) by which a colorphase Cj,n of the display color on the n-th division point of the j-thtime phase picture is defined by a dynamic range, as follows:$\begin{matrix}{{C_{j,n}({^\circ})} = {{Mod}\left( {{{k \cdot \frac{D_{j,n}^{\prime} - V_{\min}}{V_{\max} - V_{\min}}} + V_{\min}},360} \right)}} & (18)\end{matrix}$Here, “(°)” in Cj,n (°) indicates that CJ,n expresses an angle.

The processing as expressed by the formula (18) is conducted by thedisplay color allotment section 100, thereby completing allottingdisplay colors.

Finally, the display section 305 displays velocity information on thepicture by using the allotted display colors (Step D10 of FIG. 68).

By so doing, even if velocity distribution is small, it is possible todisplay velocity information using many colors. This is useful indiagnosing differences in cardiac wall portions in detail. In thedisplay method based on velocity information, there are cases wheredifferences in movement state cannot be observed very clearly if ratedifferences are small among cardiac wall portions, and thereforeanalysis is difficult to make. In the fourth embodiment, cardiac wallcontours are divided into a plurality of parts and velocity informationbased on Doppler information is obtained for respective divided parts,the dynamic range of the resultant velocity information is obtained andcolors are changed within the dynamic range. As a result, if an picturereflecting the respective parts of the cardiac wall contours isdisplayed, it is possible to display the picture while allotting colorsthere is only a little difference in velocity, it is possible to displaythe picture while clarifying velocity differences among the respectiveparts. Thus, in the analysis of the movement function, the presentinvention can provide an analysis support apparatus and an analysissupport method capable of grasping the movement function clearly.

The methods shown in FIGS. 52, 61, 66 and 68 can be stored as programsexecuted by a computer in a storage medium including a magnetic disc(such as a floppy disc and a hard disc) and an optical disc (such as aCD-ROM and a DVD) and can be distributed widely.

According to the present invention described so far, cardiac wall partsin various time phases can be appropriately associated in the analysisof movement state of a cardiac wall by a plurality of time phasepictures. Using the division of cardiac wall contours, cardiac wallparts are classified by a method suitable for a diagnosis, wherebyinformation useful for analysis can be displayed. Thus, the presentinvention can provide a cardiac function analysis support apparatus anda cardiac function analysis support method capable of greatlycontributing to the cardiac function analysis.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalent.

1. An ultrasonic picture processing method comprising the steps of:extracting contour information of a target from ultrasonic movingpicture information; sampling said contour information at preset timeintervals and generating a plurality of time series contour data; andcomparing each of said contour data with other contour data andoutputting comparison results.
 2. An ultrasonic picture processingmethod comprising the steps of: extracting contour information of atarget from ultrasonic moving picture information; sampling said contourinformation at a preset time interval and generating a plurality of timeseries contour data; and comparing each of said contour data withadjacent one of said contour data and making a predetermineddetermination of ultrasonic moving pictures based on comparison results.3. An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim 2, whereinsaid sampling step is for sampling said contour information at thepreset time interval and for generating said contour data representingan average value of movements of contours corresponding to a pluralityof frames.
 4. An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim2, wherein said comparison step is for comparing each of said contourdata with a reference value and for determining whether said contourdata is optimum.
 5. An ultrasonic picture processing method according toclaim 2, wherein said contour extraction step is for extracting cardiacwall contours from heart moving picture information as said ultrasonicmoving picture information and for generating contour information.
 6. Anultrasonic picture processing method according to claim 5, wherein saidsampling step includes sampling said contour information correspondingto said cardiac wall contours at a time interval corresponding toheartbeats and for generating a plurality of contour data representingan average value of movements of cardiac wall contours corresponding toa plurality of frames.
 7. An ultrasonic picture processing methodaccording to claim 2, wherein said contour extraction step includesdividing a target contour from said ultrasonic moving pictureinformation into a plurality of regions and for generating a pluralityof pieces of division contour information, and said sampling stepincludes sampling said divided contour information at the time interval,for generating a plurality of time series contour data for every dividedcontour information.
 8. An ultrasonic picture processing methodaccording to claim 7, wherein said contour extraction step includesextracting a cardiac wall contour from heart moving picture informationas said ultrasonic moving picture information and dividing it into aplurality of regions for generating the divided contour information. 9.An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim 8, whereinsaid sampling step includes sampling said divided contour informationcorresponding to respective divided regions of said cardiac wall contourat a time interval corresponding to heartbeats for generating aplurality of contour data representing an average value of movements ofdivided cardiac wall contours corresponding to a plurality of frames.10. An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim 2,including a step of recording moving pictures corresponding to thecontour data which have been determined as optimum by said determinationstep.
 11. An ultrasonic picture processing method comprising the stepsof: extracting a region of a target from ultrasonic moving pictureinformation and generating target region information; sampling saidtarget region information at a preset time interval for generating aplurality of time series region data; and comparing each of said regiondata with adjacent one of said region data for outputting comparisonresults.
 12. An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim11, wherein said sampling step includes sampling said region informationat said preset time interval and generating said region datarepresenting an average value of region movements corresponding to aplurality of frames.
 13. An ultrasonic picture processing methodaccording to claim 11, wherein said comparison step includes comparingeach of said region data with a reference value for determining whethersaid region data is optimum.
 14. An ultrasonic picture processing methodaccording to claim 11, wherein said region extraction step includesextracting a cardiac muscle from heart moving picture information assaid ultrasonic moving picture information for generating regioninformation.
 15. An ultrasonic picture processing method according toclaim 14, wherein said sampling step includes sampling said regioninformation corresponding to said cardiac muscle at a time intervalcorresponding to heartbeats and generating a plurality of region datarepresenting an average value of movements of the cardiac musclecorresponding to a plurality of frames.
 16. An ultrasonic pictureprocessing method according to claim 11, wherein said region extractionstep includes dividing the target region from said ultrasonic movingpicture information into a plurality of regions for generating aplurality of pieces of divided region information, and said samplingstep includes sampling said divided contour information at said timeinterval for generating a plurality of time series region data for everydivided region information.
 17. An ultrasonic picture processing methodaccording to claim 16, wherein said region extraction step includesextracting the cardiac muscle from heart moving picture information assaid ultrasonic moving picture information and dividing it into aplurality of regions for generating said divided region information. 18.An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim 17, whereinsaid sampling step includes sampling each of said divided regioninformation corresponding to respective divided regions of said cardiacmuscle at a time interval corresponding to heartbeats, for generating aplurality of region data representing an average value of movements ofdivided cardiac muscle regions corresponding to a plurality of frames.19. An ultrasonic picture processing method according to claim 11,including a step of recording moving pictures corresponding to thecontour data which have been determined as optimum by said determinationstep.
 20. An ultrasonic picture processing method comprising the stepsof: extracting characteristic parts around a target from ultrasonicmoving picture information and generating characteristic partinformation; sampling said characteristic part information at a presettime interval for generating a plurality of time series characteristicpart data; and comparing each of said characteristic part data withadjacent one of the characteristic data for outputting comparisonresults.
 21. An ultrasonic picture processing method comprising thesteps of: extracting an arbitrary concerned region of a target fromultrasonic moving picture information and generating concerned regioninformation; sampling said concerned region information at a preset timeinterval for generating a plurality of time series region data; andcomparing each of said concerned region data with adjacent one of theconcerned region data for outputting comparison results.
 22. Anultrasonic picture processing apparatus comprising: a contour extractionsection for extracting contour information about a target fromultrasonic moving picture information; a sampling section for samplingsaid contour information at a preset time interval for generating aplurality of time series contour data; and a comparator for comparingeach of said contour data with adjacent one of the contour data formaking a predetermined determination of said ultrasonic moving picturesbased on comparison results.
 23. An ultrasonic picture processingapparatus according to claim 22, wherein said sampling section samplessaid contour information at said preset time intervals and generatessaid contour data representing an average value of movements of contourscorresponding to a plurality of frames.
 24. An ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said comparatorcompares each of said contour data with a reference value and determineswhether the data is optimum.
 25. An ultrasonic picture processingapparatus according to claim 22, wherein said contour extraction sectionextracts a contour of a cardiac wall from heart moving pictureinformation as said ultrasonic moving picture information and generatescontour information.
 26. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatusaccording to claim 25, wherein said sampling section includes a heartrate measurement unit for measuring a heart rate and said samplingsection samples said contour information corresponding to said cardiacwall contour at a time interval corresponding to heartbeats andgenerates a plurality of contour data representing an average value ofmovements of cardiac wall contours corresponding to a plurality offrames.
 27. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatus according toclaim 22, wherein said contour extraction section divides contours ofthe target from said ultrasonic moving picture information into aplurality of regions and generates a plurality of divided contourinformation; and said sampling section samples said divided contourinformation at said preset time interval and generates a plurality oftime series contour data for respective divided contour information. 28.An ultrasonic picture processing apparatus according to claim 27,wherein said contour extraction section extracts a contour of thecardiac wall from heart moving picture information as said ultrasonicmoving picture information and divides it into a plurality of regions togenerate said divided contour information.
 29. An ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said samplingsection includes a heart rate measurement unit for measuring a heartrate and said sampling section samples said divided contour informationcorresponding to divided regions of said cardiac wall contours at a timeinterval corresponding to heartbeats and generates a plurality ofcontour data representing an average value of movements of dividedcardiac wall contours corresponding to a plurality of frames.
 30. Anultrasonic picture processing apparatus according to claim 22, furthercomprising a recording section for recording moving picturescorresponding to the contour data which have been determined as optimumby said comparator.
 31. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatuscomprising: a region extraction section for extracting a region of atarget from ultrasonic moving picture information and generating targetregion information; a sampling section for sampling said target regioninformation at a preset time interval for generating a plurality of timeseries region data; and a comparator for comparing each of said regiondata with adjacent one of the region data for outputting comparisonresults.
 32. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatus according toclaim 31, wherein said sampling section samples said region informationat said preset time interval and generates said region data representingan average value of region movements corresponding to a plurality offrames.
 33. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatus according toclaim 31, wherein said comparator compares said region data with areference value and determines whether the region data is optimum on thebasis of comparison result.
 34. An ultrasonic picture processingapparatus according to claim 31, wherein said region extraction sectionextracts a cardiac muscle from heart moving picture information as saidultrasonic moving picture information, and generates region information.35. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatus according to claim 34,wherein said sampling section includes a heart rate measurement unit formeasuring a heart rate and a sampling circuit for sampling said regioninformation corresponding to said cardiac muscle at a time intervalcorresponding to heartbeats and generating a plurality of region datarepresenting an average value of movements of the cardiac musclecorresponding to a plurality of frames.
 36. An ultrasonic pictureprocessing apparatus according to claim 31, wherein said regionextraction section divides the region of the target from said ultrasonicmoving picture information into a plurality of regions and generates aplurality of divided region information, and said sampling sectionsamples said divided region information at said time interval, andgenerates a plurality of time series region data for respective dividedregion information.
 37. An ultrasonic picture processing apparatusaccording to claim 36, wherein said region extraction section extracts acardiac muscle from heart moving picture information as said ultrasonicmoving picture information and divides it into a plurality of regionsfor generating said divided region information.
 38. An ultrasonicpicture processing apparatus according to claim 37, wherein saidsampling section includes a heart rate measurement unit for measuring aheart rate and a sampling circuit for sampling said divided regioninformation corresponding to divided regions of said cardiac muscle at atime interval corresponding to heartbeats for generating a plurality ofregion data representing an average value of movements of dividedcardiac muscle regions corresponding to a plurality of frames.
 39. Anultrasonic picture processing apparatus according to claim 31,comprising means for recording moving pictures corresponding to thecontour data which have been determined as optimum by said comparator.